Cam's Tale
by Lunadora
Summary: A fanfic based on Cam's POV with a lot of characters and places from other HM games. Follow Cam and his routine through the first year of the game "Tale of Two Towns".
1. Chapter 1

Thanks to ConcordBroken, I noticed that Fanfiction was publishing the word cafe' as "caf", so I had to change them all. It is just a minor issue, so the chapters will be the same, just with the correct word.  
>Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.<br>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.

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><p>It was a Sunday night. Cam was almost done with his luggage when someone knocked on the door. He opened it to just find the huge man that owns the cafe' smiling at him.<br>"Are you sure you don't want some snacks, Cam?"  
>"Yes. I'll be fine," Cam said as he left the cafe'<p>

Since Cam moved from the city to that small town, he felt refreshed. His flowers also seemed to be prettier than when he lived in the city, but he still went back every Monday to see his friend and participate on flower arranging contests. He was not very good with people so he tried his hardest with his flowers but still never managed to get the first prize. Laney and Howard watched as he left the cafe' towards Grady's Animals. He always used a rented white pony from Grady to go to the city.  
>"Good luck son!" Was what Grady said while waving his hand when Cam left his shop.<p>

The way to the city was long and Cam had to ride until morning to get there, but it sure was worth it. He was confident that, this time, he would get a good prize. It was almost morning when he got to his friend's house.  
>"Hey Cam! You're right in time. It is nice to see you again," the other guy greeted him.<br>"Hi. How's your girlfriend?"  
>Both used to talk for some hours about their own lives for a couple hours before Cam would leave to meet his teacher. She was a cheerful mid-aged lady with pink hair that loved perfumes and bouquets. She taught him everything he knew about flower arranging and was also his source for flower seeds.<br>"How is your business going on the country side?" She asked.  
>"I think it is ok for a small town."<br>Truthfully, Cam didn't have a lot of customers as his old shop in the city, but that didn't bother him at all.  
>"I hope they're taking good care of you, dear," she added as she patted his back.<br>"They are, don't worry. Can I use your tools to make my flower arrange?"  
>"You don't even need to ask."<p>

As the hours passed Cam was getting more and more nervous. All the confidence he had on his travel started to fade away. He felt like he was missing something... But what could it be? As the contest time approached he tried to decide between a bouquet of marguerites, a bouquet of carnations and mixed bouquet. It was the start of a new year, so he thought that maybe a bouquet of marguerites would be good. It was simple but cute; for sure it would be a good choice.  
>"So, you choose the marguerites?" His teacher asked, curious.<br>"Yes. They look really fresh. It seems like the perfect choice for a new year."  
>"Then get ready, dear. We should get going now," she added as she grabbed her hat.<br>"Will do," he agreed.

The Flower contest was held not too far from there, so he took his time with final touches. As he went to the contest he couldn't help to notice his friend and his girlfriend. They looked happy together. For a second he thought that, maybe, he needed some love in his life too. But the thought scared him a bit, so he brushed it off as fast as it came to him. His flowers were his love, and he dedicated his life to them. What good a woman could do to him?

"I'm so sorry dear..."  
>From five contestants, for the first time since he started competing, he didn't place between the three best ones.<br>"Don't feel bad, it was just a bad day. You should sleep a bit before heading back to your town."  
>"I will do that," he agreed before heading to one of the rooms.<br>Cam went to sleep with a bitter feeling of defeat. His bouquet was not bad, he was confident about it, so what could have went wrong? He thought about it till he fell asleep.

Later that night his friend came to say bye.  
>"You'll be back next week, right?"<br>"I will," he said with a smile.  
>"Good! Drop by my house again when you do. Take care of yourself Cam."<br>"You too."

Back to Bluebell, he found an excited Howard gossiping with his daughter about a new farmer at the neighbor town. But that didn't bother him at all. All he wanted to do was to forget his failure on the Flower Contest earlier that day. And he had to get ready to work at his flower stall.


	2. Chapter 2

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

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><p>It was 10 AM already and Cam finished opening his Flowers Stall. He was a bit grumpy and to make things worse, it was raining. He didn't mind to work on a rainy day, but he had to take care of his flowers so that they would not get damaged by it.<p>

It was around midday already and he was getting ready to eat his lunch when she appeared. She had a red bandanna tying her wet hair and was dressed in a blue set with what looked to him like a yellow apron, all drenched by the rain. He thought that her clothes were a bit weird; for sure she didn't live in Bluebell. And how come she was outside without an umbrella? It couldn't be that she forgot hers at home, since it was raining from the morning. Maybe she just didn't have one, but if that was the case, why didn't she buy one after hearing the weather forecast for that day? It clearly said that it was going to rain the whole day. What a weird fellow she was.

She reached to his stall and started to look at the flowers and seeds. He walked beside her so that she would get under his umbrella. He noticed a bit of mud on her shoes and the faint smell of wet grass on her hair. "Must be a farmer..." he muttered.  
>"Excuse me?" The girl looked up to him.<br>Her eyes were deep blue, her pale skin was shining because of the rain drops and her light brown hair was dripping.  
>"Ah, sorry for my rudeness. I'm Cam. I run this flower shop. Nice to meet you," he started, changing his umbrella to another hand and extending it to the girl.<br>"I'm Lilian," she replied as she shook his hand back. "I moved to the farm on the neighbor town. Nice to meet you too."  
>After that she stared back to the stall, picking up a bunch of marguerite seeds. After paying for them she put them into her rucksack and started to walk towards the cafe'. She was not too far away when she turned back and cheerfully waved bye to him. All he could do was wave back, still puzzled.<p>

It was 5 PM already when Cam finished packing his flowers and went back to the cafe'. Howard looked more anxious than his normal.  
>"Did you see her, Cam?" He asked, beaming.<br>"Who?" He asked, clueless.  
>"Lilian, of course! She came to introduce herself, even with the rain. Isn't she a sweetie?"<br>"She sure seemed like a good person, dad," replied Laney while drying some plates.  
>"If you say so," Cam answered, indifferently.<br>He didn't feel like talking much that day, but he sure was happy that he got another customer to his flower shop. Even more if she was a farmer. He went back to his workshop to work on his perfume technique. It was something that his teacher taught him not too long ago, so he still didn't feel very confident to make them.

He was almost done with his experiments when Laney sneaked inside.  
>"Hey Cam, can we talk for a moment?"<br>"Sure," he said, turning to look at her.  
>Laney was the living image of a lady for Cam. She was polite and gracious, her clothes and her hair were always tidy and she cared for everyone.<br>"Tomorrow is Georgia's birthday, you know," she started, a bit fidgety.  
>"Ah, is it?" He asked, clueless about what he had to do with it.<br>"Yes! The last year I cooked for her and made her a cake, but this year she is on a diet so," she stopped talking and gave him a big smile.  
>"So...?" He asked, still not sure he understood what she wanted.<br>"Could you make her a bouquet or something?" She blurted out.  
>"I think I could," he said after pondering a bit. "Do you know what her favorite flower is?"<br>"She seems to like them all the same, so I am not sure," Laney told him as she rubbed her chin.  
>"Ok, I will think about something," he replied.<br>"Thanks! Do you think you could have it done until tomorrow afternoon?"  
>"Yes. I will tell you when it is done."<br>"Thanks!" She said, giving him a kiss on his cheek and leaving.  
>"Geez, what does she think she is doing," he mumbled as he rubbed his cheek.<br>Cam lived around Howard's Cafe' for quite some time already, so he got really attached to both him and his daughter. Laney started to pick his interest, but he couldn't tell if it was love. Time would say, for sure. Now, he had to think about what to make as a gift to Georgia.

Wednesdays always used to be quiet around that time of the year, so Cam could take his time with his work. That was the perfect chance for him to work on his perfumes. Actually, he was thinking about using Georgia's birthday as his guinea pig: he made a herb perfume with chamomiles and mints that he found on his last stroll on the mountain, and if Georgia liked it, he would take it as if his perfumes were good enough to be sold. It was 9:30 am when Laney left the cafe' for the first time that day and he decided to call her to deliver the gift.  
>"I really hope she likes it, Cam! How much I owe you?"<br>"Nothing really," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Just let me know if she liked it."  
>"Will do. I will deliver it to her right now. Thanks again Cam!"<br>And turning on her shoes she left towards Grady's Animal.

Late that same day, Laney came around the flower stall. Leaning on it, she let her body rest a bit.  
>"She told me she liked it Cam. The perfume."<br>"Really?" He asked curious.  
>"Yes. She even asked me where I got it, since she never saw something that looked so expensive being sold around Bluebell."<br>"I'm happy that she liked it," he said as he tried to hide a smile.  
>He barely finished his phrase when Laney turned to face him.<br>"Tell me Cam, where did you get that perfume?" She asked him, dangerously approaching him.  
>"Actually," he started, gulping and giving one step backwards. "I made it yesterday before going to bed."<br>As he watched Laney he could see that she had a bit of doubt about what he just said.  
>"If you want, I can make you one right now, but you would have to wait a bit," he offered.<br>"Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Can I choose the flower?" She asked, still looking skeptical.  
>"Sure, as long as it is seasonal," he said, happy that he could make yet another perfume.<br>"Then... Use carnations, please."  
>Cam had all the ingredients that he needed; he just needed to mix them all up, so he finished it pretty quickly.<br>"Here it is," he said as he handed her the perfume.  
>Laney put a bit of it on her wrists and nosed it.<br>"It smells good," she said, even though her expression was still as stern as before.  
>"Then you like it?" He asked, hopeful.<br>"I don't know... It is not bad, but I also would not say it is one of the best things I got from you so far."  
>And after saying that, she returned the bottle to him. Even if Georgia liked his herb perfume, Laney didn't like the flower perfume, and that made him wonder if she really didn't like it or if he did some kind of mistake.<p>

While he was lost in thoughts, Lilian approached the flower stall, but he didn't notice her at all and just kept arranging some flowers.  
>"Cam?"<br>He was still absorbed on his flowers. So much that she had to call him again.  
>"CAM!"<br>The second time she called to him scared him to the point that he almost dropped a flowers vase that he was working on. As he looked back to his flower stall he finally noticed her.  
>"Ah. It is you," he said as he put the flower vase back to its rightful place. "Hello Lilian."<br>Now that it was not raining he could have a better look at her, and he thought that her hair was really pretty.  
>"Can I ask you something?"<br>"You just did," he teased.  
>"Ah, common," she said, pouting.<br>He chuckled. It sure was funny to tease her, but he should not overdo it since she was a customer.  
>"It is ok. Ask it already."<br>"Is there anything that you like?"  
>"Anything that I like...?" He repeated.<br>"Yes. I know you sell flowers, but do you like flowers too?"  
>"Ah... Yes, I do."<br>He noticed that she started to look at the perfume bottle that he made to Laney earlier on that day.  
>"Do you want it?" He asked her.<br>"What?"  
>"The perfume," he said, pointing to the bottle. "Do you want it?"<br>"Are you giving it to me?" She asked, a big smile stamped on her face.  
>"Yes, I am."<br>Then, handling her the bottle, he noticed her hands were hot. Maybe she was feverish from all the rain from yesterday? She couldn't be so crazy as to work under the rain the whole day, could she?  
>"Why didn't you have an umbrella?"<br>"What?"  
>"Yesterday," he started. "You were walking around without an umbrella. Why?"<br>"Ah... I didn't know that it was going to rain yesterday... And I needed seeds, since Gombe is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I was lucky that you were open," she explained with the same smile as she opened the perfume bottle and nosed it.  
>"How come you didn't know? Did you forget to listen to the weather forecast on the radio?"<br>"I don't have a radio," she said bluntly.  
>"Ah.."<br>He didn't know what to think. Was she poor? So much that she didn't have a radio?  
>"Ok, listen to me," he said while grabbing her hand. "Go home early today and rest. Or you might catch a cold if you don't take care of yourself."<br>She smiled and thanked him while leaving by the same path she used to come. He thought that, maybe, they could be friends. It would be nice to have another female friend other than Laney.


	3. Chapter 3

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

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><p>Thursday finally came, and within it, the chance to replenish his herbs and wild flowers stock. Howard forced him to get some rest days, so he promised him that he would take the Thursdays and Fridays for those matters. Since then he began to enjoy his little walks in the mornings to spend the rest of the day around nature. Sometimes he would find wild animals like ducks, monkeys and rabbits, sometimes he would hear the growling of a bear but other than that everything was pretty peaceful.<p>

That day, as soon as he got near the riverbank, he heard a meow. Flustered, he started to search for the source of the sound. It came from a little tabby that had his paw stuck in a tree stump. Cam loved cats, but since he lived at the cafe' he could not have one, and that was one of the very motives that made him a lonesome. He still missed the times he spent playing with Blue, the cat of his best friend. He decided to help the little tabby, so he approached it slowly. The cat seemed to be desperate, so he carefully holds it head with one hand while he tried to unstuck the pawn with the other. It didn't look that bad: the pawn just went inside a crack in the tree stump and since the cat was too small, it couldn't free itself from it. After helping the cat he let it go, as it rubbed on his leg before going away after a fish in the shallow water. Those small moments were what made Thursdays and Fridays worth to him.

As soon as he woke up on that Friday he decided that he should put a request asking some fishes for the cat on the request board. He was not a good fisher, so he would have to rely on someone else for that. He took his time cleaning his room until the town hall would be open. Then he left the cafe' and walked the little distance that lead him to the town hall. There, Rutger seemed busy sorting the mail.  
>"Hello mayor," Cam greeted him.<br>"Hello Cam. You are up early. Is there anything you need from me?" The old man asked him.  
>"I wanted to put a request at the board."<br>"Sure, sure! Here, fulfill this form. I will pin it on the board as soon as I finish sorting this mail."  
>"Thanks."<br>He noticed that he should give a reward. What would be a good enough reward? He didn't have much... Flower seeds maybe?  
>"Hey mayor," Cam called him.<br>"Yes Cam?"  
>"What should I give as a reward?" He asked, puzzled.<br>"Anything is fine," the old man answered him without even taking his eyes out of the mail.  
>Anything, he said. But anything was just so random. Anything could be just ANYTHING.<br>"I think I will go home and think about a reward."  
>"You can take the form home with you and bring it back to me when it is all filled," Rutger said, finally looking to Cam.<br>"Okay, thanks mayor!"  
>"You're welcome!"<p>

Back at the cafe' he started to look around for a good reward. Maybe some seeds? Maybe a perfume? But he was asking for food, so something related to food sounded like a better choice for a reward. He sat at a table near the door and stared at the form, oblivious to the big man behind him.  
>"What are you asking fish for? And small ones! You can't cook anything with small fishes like those!" Howard said, hands on his hips. Cam got startled for a second but sighed.<br>"Ah, it's you Howard," he started, staring back to the form. "They're not for me. And they're not for cooking either."  
>"Want to tell me what's going on then? I can brew some tea for us if you want," the big man offered.<br>That's when a bell rang on Cam's head. TEA! Why didn't he have that idea before? Tea sounded like something perfect as a reward for some fishes.  
>"Hey Howard."<br>"Yes dear?"  
>"Instead of brewing it, could you give me some?"<br>"You mean a can of tea?" He asked, clueless.  
>"Yes. I can pay if you want me to," he said, reaching for his pockets to grab his wallet.<br>"Ah, common dear, you don't need to," Howard said, waving his hand so Cam would put his wallet back on his pocket as he got up and went up to a shelf and came back, this time holding something on his hands.  
>"Here it is. You can take it. But later you'll have to tell me what you're going to use the fishes for!" He asked, surely dying to know what kind of gossip that would turn out to be.<br>"I will!"  
>And after filling the form Cam went back to the town hall. The request was made, now he just had to wait for the person who would fulfill it.<p>

At the riverbank that afternoon Cam noticed Lilian passing by riding a pony. She seemed busy. So busy that she didn't even notice him. For a second, that reminded him of the day they first meet. How she would be walking around under the rain without an umbrella. What if it started to rain again? The only thing he could think was that he wished that she had bought one already. Not too long after she arrived at Bluebell he saw her taking the way back to the neighbor town. What could be so good about a town that lives around crops? Bluebell was far better with all the animals and livestock.

It was a Saturday and Howard was humming behind the counter. There would be a cooking contest that day and he wanted to participate.  
>"After all, I'm the cafe' owner! What people would say if I don't go?"<br>The truth is that Howard, Laney and Jessica, from the Livestock shop, were the best cooks in town. But he didn't see Howard so excited for a cooking contest for sometime already.  
>"Of course I'm excited! She might be there!"<br>"She...?" Cam asked as clueless as ever.  
>"He is talking about Lilian, Cam. He didn't stop talking about her for the whole day yesterday, wondering what she would cook and stuff," Laney explained with a pout.<br>"Oh! Do I feel a bit of jealousy from you, Laney?" Howard asked, teasing her.  
>"I'm not jealous!" She exclaimed, even though her face surely showed the contrary.<br>"Don't worry, dear! You're my daughter after all. I will never love anyone as much as I love you," he said as he walked up to Laney, wrapping her in a tight hug.  
>"Cam, please, do something," she asked as she half heartedly tried to free herself from Howard's arms.<br>Cam wanted to laugh but he wasn't sure this was the best moment to do so. As Howard tightened the hug Laney gave up on her struggle and hugged him back. Even though she denied it she did sound jealous of the new farmer. No matter how much she asked, he couldn't meddle in those matters.

Since the cooking contests were as important as festivals no one worked that day so Cam took the whole day to think about the city. He was competing on the flower contests for some time now, and the judges never gave him the 1st place. Maybe they were expecting more from him? Maybe his flowers were not enough to please them? Whatever the answer was, he thought that maybe it was already time for him to take a break from the contests and focus on something else. And he would talk about that with his teacher when he went back to the city. For sure she would have some ideas to share with him.

After the contest, Howard looked defeated, even after Bluebell won the contest.  
>"What happened?" Cam asked, already regretting it.<br>"Seems like the mayor helped her with the ingredients," Laney said.  
>Cam looked at them with a puzzled face, and Howard couldn't help to utter a cry.<br>"Ah, Cam! It is a shame for a cook to accept help with his work!" He said, obviously upset.  
>"But she is not a cook, she is a farmer," Cam said, hoping this would make things less dramatic.<br>"That just makes things worse! She should have used her own crops! The things she planted from her own farm!"  
>Howard kept complaining about Lilian's cooking skills and how she hurts the cook's pride within him. Cam could care less about all that and decided to go sleep. After all, he had to work the next day.<p>

Sunday started bad with a weather forecast of sun until midday and a rainy afternoon. Cam would have to protect his flowers sooner than he used to, since he would not be able to do it properly because of his travel the next day. It was around 11 AM when the clouds started to cover the sun. The rain would come, for sure. And by the thought of the rain, Lilian invaded his mind for a second. He started to think what kind of flower she could like. It was good for business to know what your customer likes.  
>The rain started to fall not too long after that when he noticed the white pony with the blue dressed girl riding it. And, once again, she didn't have an umbrella.<br>"Hi Cam!" She smiled to him and started to look inside her rucksack. What could she be looking for? Right when he was going to start talking to her he noticed. It was faint, but it was there: the flower perfume.  
>"Are you using the perfume that I gave you?" He asked, curious.<br>"Yes! I really like it! I was wondering if you could make me more of it. I brought the flowers."  
>When he looked inside her rucksack he saw the flowers that grow from the seeds that she bought Tuesday. Somehow they looked better than the ones he had to sell on his stall.<br>"Yes, I can make you the perfume. But first answer me one thing."  
>"What?"<br>"Where is your umbrella?"  
>"I still didn't buy one," she said while looking down to her feet.<br>How come she could be so careless, he thought. Without thinking twice he grabbed her by her arm and started to pull her.  
>"Hey! Cam! Where are we going?"<br>"To Enrique's shop. He sells umbrellas."  
>"But..."<br>"Don't 'but' me."  
>They went inside the shop. The decorations inside it gave the feeling of a Spanish shop in the middle of a desert. Or some kind of very dry land. The small man behind the counter also helped on that feeling, dressed with a purple poncho and sombrero.<br>"How can I help you?" The man asked.  
>"I want an umbrella," Cam said, still holding Lilian's arm.<br>"Any specific color that you want?" The man asked, not seeing surprised by Cam's behavior.  
>Cam looked at her. When their eyes meet she looked to the walls. He didn't know if she was angry or what she was thinking but he didn't care, she couldn't keep walking around without an umbrella!<br>"Give me a very feminine one," he said, his voice finally getting smoother again.  
>"We have this white one. It is pretty popular between girls."<br>"I'll buy it. How much is it?"  
>"It costs 500 G sir."<br>"Okay, thanks," he said before turning to her and shoving the umbrella on her.  
>"Please, use it from now on."<br>He thought that she would hate it. Or that she would refuse it. What happened to him? It was not like him to pull people around like that. He was almost taking the umbrella back to himself when he felt her hands gripping his hand.  
>"Thanks. I'll use it well," she said as she avoided his eyes.<br>It was not as bad as he thought. At least now he knew she would not get all drenched at every rainy day. And that she would not get sick. She was not as stubborn as he thought she could be.

Back to his flower stall, he started making the perfumes while she picked more seeds. They didn't exchange one word at all during that time. When he was done she picked up a package from her rucksack and gave it to him.  
>"What's this?" He asked, wondering if it was some sort of gift.<br>"I picked up your request. You wanted some fishes to feed a cat, right?"  
>"Ah..."<br>He felt his face heating up. From all people, why it had to be her?  
>"You know, I live in the cafe' and... I can't have a cat and... What could I do? It rubbed on my leg... I thought I should at least feed it..."<br>At this point, she giggled. Somehow that giggle was enough to make him feel better. This was the reason he forced her to the shop for that umbrella: he wanted to keep that smile. Her giggle made him feel all warm inside. He never felt like that around anyone other than Laney, so he thought it was a good thing.  
>He gave her an herb tea can and a small sum of money and, after they said their goodbyes, he watched as she left, this time, using the umbrella he gave her.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

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><p>He still didn't know, but that Monday would change his life.<br>He arrived at his teacher's house early that day. It surprised her, since he usually came by around midday.  
>"What brings you here so early in the morning Cam?"<br>She pointed to a yellow armchair by a corner table where he sat down. Since he moved to the countryside he never noticed how much his teacher's house changed. Her wooden floor was less shiny than he remembered, the chandeliers were dusty and her kitchen had a pile of plates waiting to be washed. He thought he should help her a bit, but first things first.  
>"Teacher... I don't want to compete anymore on the flower contests."<br>"What are you talking about, Cam! This is your dream!"  
>"I know," he said, trying to find the right words. "But... For a while already I've had this feeling that I'm missing something..."<br>His teacher crossed her arms and started to walk slowly around the room.  
>"I think I know what you've been missing Cam."<br>"Really?" He perked up. He knew that his teacher would know what to do.  
>"Your bouquets are great, really. But you don't know the meaning of the flowers."<br>"Meaning...?" He asked her, "I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about, teacher."  
>"Well, most of the flowers have a meaning, and you should keep those in mind when doing a bouquet."<br>"Why you never told me something like that?" He asked her, sighing.  
>"Because you were young, dear... And to be honest, I was also studying the flowers meaning," she said as she walked up to one of her shelves.<br>"So, we're going to study those together?" He asked her.  
>"No, dear. I already learned all that had to be learnt about that. I can lend you my notes if you want them," she said after grabbing a small notepad from the shelf.<br>"That would be good," he said as he reached for the notepad.  
>"But Cam, I need to tell you one more thing," she said, pulling the notepad back.<br>"What is it?" He asked, a bit impatient.  
>"There are some flowers that do not grow in our country. I've been trying to contact some people to get me some samples of those flowers. This way we can try and see if they would be able to survive here or not."<br>"And could I help you with that?"  
>"You only come here on Mondays, dear," she said, going back to walking through the room.<br>"I know, but I can try to grow those flowers on the countryside."  
>Again, he made his teacher think.<p>

Nina came from a family of florists, so she was pretty fond of her flowers. She knew Cam's parents before they died and she raised him as if he was her own son. She never had kids and lived away from her family, so Cam was all she had. It took her a lot of time to get used to the idea of Cam living alone on the countryside. She also participated in the old contests, but now she used to say that the young ones should be the ones participating. Cam knew that this was her own way to support him.  
>"I would like to see you compete someday," Cam said, finally being able to give a look on Nina's notepad.<br>"You used to see me on the contests all the time when you were a kid, Cam."  
>She knew that, deep inside, Cam wanted to see her bouquets again.<br>"Every florist has their own way of arranging flowers," she said, patting his shoulder. "I have mine and you have yours. You should not imitate my work just because I used to won the contests. You were doing a good job."  
>"Not good enough for a first prize," he sulked, handing the notepad back to Nina. It was useless. Cam was bitter again, and nothing that she said could change that.<p>

Cam spent the rest of the afternoon with his friend.  
>"Where is your girlfriend?" He asked.<br>"She went shopping with some friends. I hate to go with them, because they make me carry all their packages."  
>At least he could have a good time before going back.<br>Before leaving, Nina gave him a pack of seeds.  
>"Those are pink rose seeds. They said they have more from where this one came. This will be your first task, Cam. Grow those flowers and show them to me. If you manage to make the flower bloom, then your chances at the flower contests will increase."<br>"Thanks Nina," he said as he hugged her.  
>"Don't thank me yet. Keep it for when the flowers bloom," she said with a playful smile.<br>That day, for the first time in some time, Cam went back to Bluebell without thinking about what he did wrong. Instead, he started to think about his future. And it all depended on him.

Back to Bluebell, Cam started to take care of the seeds his teacher gave him. He thought if he should take any special care with them. He never had grown roses before, so he decided he should read some books before planting them. Since he didn't have that many clients, reading while taking care of his stall was a nice idea. At least he would have something to do while waiting for a customer.

It was Wednesday again. Ash came, as usual, to talk about his mother, his sister and his livestock. Sometimes he would talk about one or two things he heard from customers. But this time, Cam was surprised by what Ash was talking about.  
>"That girl is funny, don't you think?" Ash started.<br>"You mean Lilian?"  
>"Yes. Even living in a town where everyone raises crops, she came to buy livestock," he said proudly.<br>"Really?" Cam asked even though he wasn't that surprised. She had come a couple times already to buy his seeds so it was obvious that at some point she'd buy other things from Bluebell too.  
>"Yes! Talk about surprise. She sure has some guts do raise livestock in there. Ah, look!" He said, pointing.<br>When Cam raised his head to see what Ash was pointing at, he saw her.  
>"Hi Ash. Hi Cam," Lilian greeted them.<br>"Hi Lilian!" Ash greeted back. "I hope you didn't want to buy any animal today, since we're closed."  
>"Yeah, I noticed," she said, patting the guy's shoulder. "But today I came to buy flowers."<br>Cam tried to remember the last time she came. And by his counts, the last bunch of seeds she bought shouldn't be ready yet. Unless...  
>"Did your flowers die?" He asked with a frown.<br>"No! Why are you asking something like that?"  
>"Because they should not be ready yet, right?" He asked, sure that he had cornered her.<br>"Well, you're right, they're not," she confessed. "But your shop will be closed by the day they're ready."  
>"And couldn't you buy seeds from that... What was his name again?" He tried to remember.<br>"Gombe," she said. "No, he does not have flower seeds. And I like flowers better."  
>"People at your town must hate you," Ash said. Lilian looked at him, puzzled.<br>"Why?"  
>"Because you're buying livestock from me and flower seeds from Cam. In other words, you're not buying anything from them," he said bluntly, shrugging.<br>"Ash!"  
>Cam wanted to scold his friend but it was too late. The usually cheerful smile that Lilian would carry faded away as soon as Ash said those words.<br>"Maybe you're right," she said, looking to the flowers seeds. "I should buy some vegetables too," she added, returning half of the seeds she was going to buy. "Sorry Cam. And thanks for the seeds."  
>He watched as she left. When she was far enough Ash tried to flee but Cam got a grip of him by his suspender.<br>"Ash..."  
>"I'm sorry man!" The other said apologetic. "I just thought it is weird that she is spending her money around here instead of helping her town."<br>"It is not like you to care for Konohana," Cam said, still bothered.  
>"Yeah, I know... It is just that she talks so much about the place when she comes to visit."<br>"She visits you...?" Cam asked with a cocked eyebrow.  
>"Not specially me, but the ranch. She comes everyday to ask things about the animals. I'm even thinking about putting up a request for her the next month. Just to test her willpower," Ash said as he looked to the way Lilian had left. with a devilish smile.<br>"You're mean, Ash."  
>"I'm not!" He protested. "I just can't help it when it comes to her."<br>Cam thought it was weird. Ash was not the kind of person who would be mean to someone on purpose. On the contrary, he was pretty chivalrous when it comes to girls. He could only think about one reason for this kind of behavior.  
>"Do you like her by any chance?"<br>"Maybe," the other said with a gentle smile. "I don't know her well enough to be sure. Well man, I'm going for now. Take care of yourself!"  
>"I will..."<br>Ash just ruined a good deal. Now, half of the seeds he would sell were left behind, and the girl who would buy them left with a serious look on her face. Somehow that serious face started to bug him. As Ash said, he also didn't know much about Lilian, but even so, he cared for her. He brushed off the thought of his mind and went back to his books. His new seeds depended on his success to grow them and make them bloom.


	5. Chapter 5

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>That Friday there would be another cooking contest. Howard and Laney were preparing their soups when Cam approached them from behind.<br>"Hey," he greeted them as he rubbed his eyes and put his beret on.  
>"Cam, dear! Good morning!"<br>"Morning Cam," said Laney without really turning her gaze from the boiling pot in the stove,  
>"I can't believe you guys are already cooking," Cam said as he scratched the back of his head.<br>"The cooking contest is today, after all," Howard said as if explaining. Then he shrugged and smiled. "Why don't you join, just for a change?"  
>"Me?" He asked, incredulous.<br>"Yes dear! You can use all my ingredients, but I can't make it for you," said Howard as he turned his attention back to his own soup.  
>Cam had a close look at the ingredients they had. There were a whole bunch of onions, some eggs and a good amount of butter. He knew how to cook herb soup and egg soup, so it should be one of those. But there were no chamomile on the ingredients that Howard showed him. He thought for a moment if he got any from his stroll on the mountain on his free days. Then he went back to his room and started to search for chamomiles inside his backpack. It didn't take too much of his time to find it. Then he went back to the kitchen to cook his soup. He was not very confident on his cooking skills, but Howard and Laney were so excited for the contest that he thought he could give it a try.<p>

It was midday when they finally made it to the mountain summit. Both mayors were by the arch taking the entries for the contest. Rutger had his festival clothes on. The people that didn't know him would say that he was dressed as every day, but Howard told him once that the mayor had special clothes for the festivals, and Cam didn't doubt it even a bit. Ina, Konohana's mayor, had the same serious look from the last time he saw her. Her red clothes reminded him of a foreign country in a fairy tales book that Nina used to read for him when he was a kid. It felt nostalgic, and made him think about his teacher for a second. He still didn't plant the roses, since he was studying them, so he decided that, after the contest was over, he would try and plant one of the seed packs. It would not hurt to watch them grow as he learnt about them.

Everyone was there already when the judge came. Rutger called his team: Howard, Laney and Cam; Ina called hers: an old woman with a gentle face, Lilian and a young guy dressed in white clothes. His eyes stopped on Lilian for a second. She looked tired. Her face reminded him of Wednesday, when Ash said some harsh things to her. It couldn't be that she was still bothered by it, could it?

Pierre was a small man that lived in the city and used to come to the mountain summit on the cooking contest days just to judge the food. With his blonde hair sticking out from his top hat, some people in the city used to call him "Willy Wonka wannabe". Even with so many jokes, Pierre was a renowned judge, so both towns always made an effort to get him to judge the contests. So far, he always came. The first team to be judged was always Bluebell team. The entries were an onion soup from Howard, an egg soup from Laney and an herb soup from himself. Pierre seemed satisfied with the entries. The next team was Konohana's. The entries were a soybean soup from the old lady, a vichyssoise from Lilian and a herb soup from the young man. After tasting all the entries, Pierre should decide which team was better. He walked from one team to another, looking at the participants' worried faces. In the end, he decided for Konohana's dishes.  
>"See? My town cooking is better than yours!" Ina said with a grin pasted on her lips.<br>"Your people just had a bit of luck. The next week, we will be the winners. Just wait," was Rutger's answer.  
>At this point, Lilian approached Konohana's mayor and, gently, held her arm. She whispered something and the mayor face softened. She gave a last sarcastic smile to Rutger and turned on her feet to leave. Lilian noticed that Cam was watching and, as she blushed, waved him a bye and went away after her mayor. Now her face was back to her usual cheerfulness, and that made him feel better. Maybe she was just anxious for the contest.<p>

Back to the Cafe', Howard and Laney looked a bit disappointed. He thought that it would be better to leave them alone for the time being and went to his workstation. He grabbed one of the rose seeds and stared at it for some time. After that, he started to work on the soil, adding bone meal and fertilizer to it, he prepared a vase and added the soil, then the seed, then he sift some more soil over the seed and pressed it all to the bottom of the vase, finishing it off with some watering. If the books were right, the first leaves would sprout after 3 or 4 days. He should hope for a good weather forecast for those days then.

Finally, Saturday came. Cam had to wake up very early that day, not only for his rose, but something else would happen that day: it was Spring Harmony Day, and he should give chocolates for the girls living in Bluebell. He was pretty close to Laney, but he didn't know Georgia that well, so he thought it would be unfair to give them the same thing. He took a small briefcase he had with some recipes that Nina taught him and started to pass through them to find something to bake. Taking a look on the cafe' shelf there were still a good amount of chocolate, so he would be fine, as long as he didn't mess up the recipes. Cam really disliked sweets, but he could not bother Howard to make them. Even more if he was the one supposed to give them. He decided then to make a chocolate pudding to Georgia and some chocolate cookies to Laney. Then a thought crossed his mind: what if Lilian came to visit? Maybe he should bake something for her too? But she didn't live in Bluebell, so he should not.

In the end, he made 2 chocolate puddings and a batch of chocolate cookies.  
>"It looks good enough, even for me," he said proudly as he looked to the results of his hard work. Then he went upstairs and knocked on Laney's door.<br>"Is it you dad?"  
>"No, it is me, Cam," he answered, wondering if he had come too early.<br>"Come in," was her answer.  
>When he entered he saw Laney combing her loose hair. It looked so nice that, without thinking, he reached to touch it. It was smooth to touch and it had a healthy shine. He was so absorbed on her hair that he didn't notice her face blushing at all.<br>"Cam...?"  
>"Ah, sorry," he quickly replied, rummaging his belongings to find the chocolate cookies. "It is Spring Harmony Day, so I made this for you," he said as he handed her the chocolate cookies.<br>When he looked her image on the mirror he finally noticed how red her face was, which made him blush too.  
>"Ah... sorry for my intrusion... I shall leave now... Hope you like it," he said as he looked down, not really sure about what to say any longer.<br>"Umm. Thanks," was her answer. But he didn't have the time to look at her face or any further reactions. He had walked up to the door already. And without a second word, he left her room.

He stood up at her door for a few minutes, thinking about how cute Laney was. She was very feminine and he cared for her, but today, his heart was racing. He had to hide his face when Howard went out of his room on the other side of the corridor.  
>"Good morning Cam!" he said cheerfully. "Were you waiting for me?"<br>"Ah," he stuttered a bit. "No, no. I am done here already. Excuse me."  
>He wondered if Howard noticed something. It would be better if he left the cafe' early to work that morning. After all, he still had to deliver one more chocolate.<p>

At Grady's Animals Georgia was herding the horses out of the stable. He called out to her from the fence and by the sight of him she waved and told him to wait. There was only one more horse to be herd.  
>"Hey Cam, good morning," she greeted.<br>"Good morning Georgia. Here, this is for you," he said as he carefully took the chocolate pudding out of his bag and handed it to her. Her face reddened a bit and she smiled.  
>"Thanks Cam. I didn't know you could cook sweets!" She said with a warm laugh.<br>"Why are you saying that?" He asked, furrowing his brows.  
>"Because Laney told me you hate desserts. It is only natural to think you would not like to make them either," she added as she looked around as if she was looking for something.<br>"I don't mind cooking them; I just don't like sweets," was his answer.  
>But that statement made him wonder once more. So, Laney talked about him with Georgia, her best friend. It reminded him of what just happened on her room, and he felt his face heating up again.<br>"Oh... well... I hope you like it... Now I need to go work! Excuse me!" He said as he waved and turned his back to her abruptly, heading to his flower stall.  
>"Thank you kindly for the gift!" She said out loud as she waved back. "Have a nice day!" She added.<p>

Back to his stall, he watered the rose and sat down to read his book again. It had a whole bunch of other flowers other than roses that caught his interest.  
>It was around 2 PM after he had his lunch. He was resting a bit when he saw it: Ash and Lilian were heading towards the Town Square. Both of them looked happy when they started to talk while sitting on the bench by the animal statue. He felt a jolt through his whole body and started to wish he was a bird or an insect to be able to hear what both of them were talking about. For his luck, they didn't talk for that long, and Ash had to leave her to go back to his work. Lilian rose from the bench and took her way to Cam's flower stall. His stomach was hurting and he wondered if there was something bad on his lunch. She was close enough when he looked down and saw the chocolate pudding. Now, more than before, he was in doubt if he should give it to her.<br>"Hi Cam," she greeted him.  
>"Hello Lilian."<br>She started to rummage the inside of her rucksack and he wondered what she could be looking for. That rucksack didn't look that big, so it was hard for him to imagine how someone could have a hard time finding something inside it.  
>"Aha, here it is."<br>She took a Moondrop Flower and gave it to him.  
>"What is this...?"<br>"The other day you told me you like flowers, remember?" she started telling him with a smile. "I just found it on my way here and it made me think about you."  
>"I see," was his answer as he appreciated the flower.<br>Who cared if she lived in Bluebell or not? He already baked it anyway, so it would not hurt to give it to her.  
>"I also have something for you," he said.<br>"Really?" She asked, her eyes shining.  
>"Yes, here," he said as he handed her the chocolate pudding. "It is a gift for the Spring Harmony day."<br>"Nice!" She said as she looked at it as if she had never seen a chocolate pudding before. "We don't have this kind of event in Konohana."  
>"No?" He asked, curious.<br>"No. Or the guys there don't like me enough to give me sweets," she said as she lowered her head a bit.  
>Even if she was smiling, her last words were bitter. He wondered if what Ash told her the other day, about how people on her town hated her, could be the reason as to why she had been struggling so much.<br>"Don't worry. They don't hate you," he said, before putting a lot of thought in it.  
>"Excuse me?" She asked, as if trying to understand what he meant, even though her eyes did show that she did understand it.<br>"The people in your town. They don't hate you. And..."  
>He stopped. For a second, he was scared that, if he said what he wanted to say, she would misunderstand or something. He didn't want to make her feel bad.<br>"And...?" She asked, curious.  
>"And the people here in Bluebell don't hate you either," was what he managed to say. "But you won't be getting any candy from me anymore," he said seriously. "Not while you're living at Konohana," he said.<br>She giggled. At least her reaction was good. He didn't know why, but he always spoke too much when she was around.  
>"Thanks Cam. See you later."<br>"See you."  
>As she passed by the animal statue by the Town Square he reminded when she was there with Ash not too long ago. Maybe he should ask her out too when he had the chance.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>That Sunday, before Cam left, he asked Howard to deliver a Moondrop Flower to Rutger on the next day.<br>"Are you sure you don't want to give it to him yourself?" He asked.  
>"Yes. It is more meaningful when you get a gift on your birthday," he explained.<br>"Ok, leave it with me. I was thinking about giving him some tea myself, but he likes so many of them... And I don't have any of the kind that he likes! What should I do?" Howard asked, seeming a bit freaked, as if his career would depend on that answer.  
>"Ask Lilian. Maybe they sell tea on her town," was his answer.<br>"And if she does not come tomorrow? What if they don't sell it?" He asked again, as if the idea of having something from Konohana didn't really please him that much.  
>"Then just think about something else," Cam finally said, shrugging.<br>After getting his backpack on his shoulder, Cam decided he would bring his rose with him. There were no leaves sprouting yet, but he hoped that tomorrow they would, since it would be the 4th day since he planted it. And it could be dangerous to let them alone and with no water.  
>"I'm going now Howard," he said with a smile.<br>"Wait!"  
>Cam turned around in the voice's direction. It was Laney. She had been on the kitchen for some time already, and now she barged in Cam's room holding something covered in table linen.<br>"I cooked something for you to snack on. I know it is not much, but," she shrugged and extended her arms to hand it to him.  
>As Cam reached out to grab it their hands touched. Both of them blushed a bit, and Laney disappeared back to her room upstairs.<br>"Did something happen between you two?" Howard asked as his eyes followed Laney upstairs.  
>"No, nothing," he denied.<br>Cam tried to calm down but his hand was burning where it brushed Laney's.

When he arrived at Grady's Animals the one who welcomed him was not Grady, but Georgia.  
>"Hi Cam! Going to the city already?"<br>"Yes. Where is Grady?" He asked, a bit worried.  
>"Ah, he had some urgent issues. But do not worry; I can get the hang of it!" She told him as she put her hands on her tights and smiled proudly.<br>Georgia was always so full of energy that Cam couldn't help to get impressed by her. Even if they were not very close, she was always cheerful whenever he saw her.  
>"Here is your pony," she said as she handed him the reins. "Have a safe travel."<br>"Thanks. Pass my thanks to your father."  
>"I will!" She said as she waved to him as he headed to the road that lead to the city.<p>

Mondays changed drastically to Cam. Now he didn't worry about the contests anymore and, instead, he started to learn the flowers meaning with Nina.  
>"I will only teach you one flower meaning a week," she had said.<br>"Why just one?" He asked, bugged.  
>"Because you have to study them and find out why they have those meanings. Take this as your homework."<br>Even if he didn't like the idea that much he could not complain. His teacher had a lot of work studying all those flowers alone so it would not hurt to learn it slowly.  
>"This week I'll tell you about marguerites. Their meaning is a prediction of love."<br>"Prediction of love...?" He repeated, raising a brow.  
>"Yes. Now, this is your homework. I want your reasons for why marguerites have this meaning."<br>"And if I don't find out by myself?" He asked, not really thinking about it as something serious.  
>"I won't tell you another meaning until you find this one," Nina said simply. "Now, should we see how your rose is doing?"<br>Cam already told Nina about not being able to plant the rose right when he got the seeds, so both of them were really happy when they found out that the first leaves had finally sprout earlier that morning. Nina told him that, from that point onwards, he would have to be more careful.  
>"You should keep the leaves dry and the soil moist from now on," she said as she inspected the sprout herself.<br>"I know. I've been studying them. If everything keeps going like that, we will have success into growing roses in Bluebell."  
>"And Konohana," she added. Cam frowned but Nina ignored him. "This is good for you, it means more business. Are you hungry?" She asked out of the blue as if mentioning Konohana was a daily routine for them.<br>By that Cam was reminded of Laney's package. He rummaged through his things to find it and, when he opened it, there were a meuniere in there.  
>"Oh, now they also give you snacks for the travel?" Nina chuckled. "You must be really loved."<br>And by those words, Cam blushed. He didn't know if it was possible for Laney to love him, but he sure was attracted to her.

When Cam came back from the city, the first thing he did was to go upstairs and knock on Laney's door.  
>"Come in."<br>"Excuse me, I don't want to intrude. I just wanted to return this to you," he said as he looked for a place to leave it.  
>Laney already had her red blouse and blue skirt on. Her apron was folded over her chair and her hair was still messed from waking up. He thought that she didn't have time to comb it yet. And she looked extremely embarrassed. Then, he let the table linen and the pot where the meuniere were over her apron and left to open his flowers stall.<p>

Later that same day, Cam was talking with Rutger. He came to thank him for the gift.  
>"Even Lilian brought me something. I thought she would not, since she is living at Konohana and all," he had said with a huge smile.<br>"Lilian came yesterday?" He asked, skeptical.  
>"Yes, she did. She looked a bit disappointed, but I thought it would be better to not ask," he added.<br>"I see."  
>Rutger was still on his stall choosing flowers to Rose, his wife, when Cam noticed Lilian coming his way. She was neither running nor using her horse.<br>"Hi Cam. Hello mayor."  
>"Hi Lilian. Cam, make me a bouquet of this flower, please," Rutger asked, handing him a bunch of marguerites.<br>"Yes mayor."  
>Anyone that didn't know her would think that Lilian was looking at the flowers, but at close look, her eyes kept running from the flowers to Cam and back to the flowers. Knowing that, Cam made his best to finish the bouquet quickly. But even after Rutger left and went into the town hall Lilian still would not say a word.<br>"Hey," she started. When she looked up to him and meet his eyes, he noticed her cheeks reddening. "Where were you yesterday? I looked for you all around," she asked. Her voice was as low as a whisper.  
>"I go to the city on Mondays," he explained, trying not to make eye contact with her. "My teacher lives there, and also my best friend," he answered.<br>"I see..."  
>Even with his answer, she didn't look very happy. She looked around before taking an herb out of her rucksack and giving it to him.<br>"What's this?" He asked, now looking to the herb on her hands, not sure if he should take it or not.  
>"I wanted to give this to you yesterday. Howard told me you were gone already, so for a second I thought," she stopped talking and shook her head. "Anyway, this is for you," she finally said. And shoving the herb on his hands she ran away before he could run after her. It was a chamomile, and he wondered if herbs also had meanings.<p>

It was finally Friday, Ash's birthday, and Cam was checking Howard's shelf after ingredients.  
>"Are you sure you want to do that, Cam? I can cook it for you," Howard asked him as he watched, arms crossed over his big chest.<br>"No Howard. He is my friend. If someone needs to do it, then it should be me," he said as if that was the most common thing to be said.  
>Ash was Cam's best friend ever since he moved to Bluebell. He was not very good with words, but that was never a problem to Ash. Both of them grew close, and as soon as Cam could, he learnt how to cook doria, Ash's favorite dish. It was not really hard to learn it or to make it, but there were a lot of ingredients that he needed to cook it. And, to his bad luck, he didn't have rice.<br>"Hey Howard," he started.  
>"Yes Cam?" the huge man approached him, probably thinking that this time Cam would give up on the cooking and leave it to the professional. But if that was his plan his hopes were crushed.<br>"There is no rice," Cam said simply.  
>"No rice!" Howard screamed in disbelief. He was sure there were, at least, one more pack that he himself kept for that day. How could it be gone? He ran towards the door and out to the town Hall. A quarter of hour later, he was back, grinning.<br>"Ok, now we just need to wait."  
>"Wait? What about the rice?" Cam asked, worried.<br>"Oh, c'mon Cam! Even if you deliver it to him until midnight, it will be still today. Relax and trust in me."  
>Cam didn't know what to do, so he thought it would be better to just trust in Howard.<p>

On his stall he saw Lilian coming. Without even talking to him, she rushed into the cafe'. He wondered if she was angry with him, and if she was what could have enraged her. Not much time later she came out with a smiling Howard behind her.  
>"Come Cam. There is rice now. You can cook it," he said.<br>"But my stall," he protested. "Someone needs to look after it.  
>"I can take care of your stall while you cook, if you don't mind," Lilian offered.<br>He thought that he would feel better if it were Laney that offered the help, but since she was not around, he would have to accept Lilian's offer.  
>"Right. You know the prices. If someone asks for perfume just keep the flowers and give them the right perfume. There is a little stock under the cart. I'm counting on you," he said as he followed Howard back to the cafe' and ran into the kitchen to cook.<p>

"Aww man! I thought you would forget it!" Was what a happy Ash said as he dug into the doria.  
>"As if I could do that. You are my best friend after all," Cam said with a smile.<br>Ash was smiling happily. He was hard to please, but when you did it, he would melt as butter being heated.  
>"Well, I need to go now. Lilian is taking care of my stall, and I don't want to keep her there for too long," he added warily.<br>"Thanks again man. And since you're going to see her, tell her to come here too!"  
>"You only want her to give you something, don't you?" Cam added with a smile.<br>Ash gave a devilish smile and went back to work. As Cam approached his stall, he noticed a customer leaving with a bag of seeds.  
>"So, how were things?" He asked.<br>"Ah, they were pretty good if you ask me. I sold five packs of seeds and two perfumes. There was a woman who wanted a bouquet too, but since I don't know how to make one, I asked her to take her time on the cafe' that when you were back I would call her. I'll go do that now," she added, leaving the stall.  
>"What kind of bouquet she wanted?" He asked before Lilian was too far away.<br>"Marguerites!" She said loudly, not really bothering to stop her way to the cafe'. But she did turn around for a second. "A marguerite's bouquet," she added before turning back to the cafe'.  
>Cam started to work on the bouquet, so when the woman left the cafe' her bouquet was ready. Lilian came right after and watched as the woman went away. Middle way, the woman turned back and waved to Cam and Lilian, while she waved back. He didn't know if he should or not.<br>"Well, my work here is done. I'm leaving then," she said with a smile.  
>"Lilian," he called.<br>"Yes?"  
>Her voice seemed more cheerful than her usual and he wondered if something happened while he was gone.<br>"Ash asked you to go there. He wanted to talk with you."  
>"Oh, thanks. I'll go there right now."<br>As she mounted her horse to leave, she turned to him and said.  
>"I left a gift for you under your counter. Hope you like it. Hya!"<br>He watched as she left. When she was further enough to be seen, he started to look under his counter. And found an herb. This time it was a mint. He took it out and nosed it. It sure was fresh. Maybe she just got it on her way to Bluebell. Even so, he was happy that she thought about him enough as to bring him a gift.

For the next four days Lilian would always come to Bluebell, talk to everyone and give him a gift. It was a Tuesday and Cheryl's birthday, so the Bluebellians would throw a party for her at the cafe', and everyone in town would join. Cheryl was not only Jessica's daughter, but was also the only kid in Bluebell. It was normal for everyone to spoil her. Even when she played pranks on others, they would be soft on her. And Lilian could not understand that.  
>"I have a brother almost the same age, so I really don't understand how you can spoil her so much, Ash," she said, pouting.<br>"I didn't know you had a brother, Lilian," he said, curious.  
>She went silent for a second. Her face showed stern, but she kept going.<br>"If you don't get a hold of her now she will never learn."  
>"So you will just ignore my question like that?" He asked.<br>Ash seemed a bit annoyed and left Lilian's table to join his mother and Cheryl. Cam could see Lilian pouting and sighing. It was early for the party yet, so he decided to join her for a bit.  
>"Why are you looking so angry?" He asked as he pointed to the seat right in front of her.<br>"Cam," she said, a bit surprised before nodding to him so he would join her. Her face softened, but she still seemed pretty bothered.  
>"It is nothing of your concern," she added, her eyes fixed on Cheryl.<br>Cam was not used to see Lilian angry. He already saw a lot of her sides, but surely her angry side was the scarier one.  
>"Just relax. Cheryl is a kid. Kids change when they grow up," he added.<br>Lilian lanced a cold glare to him, as if he said something wrong. For the first time, he regretted sitting on the same table with her. He was making up some excuse to leave when she started to talk on a pained voice.  
>"My parents were always busy for me and my brother, so I know how Ash feels about his sister but," she stopped and sighed. At this point, he noticed a tear fighting it way out of her eyes. "She will never learn how hard life is if you people keep spoiling her," she finally said.<br>And after that Lilian rose from her chair. She bowed her head and left the cafe'. The only ones that saw her leaving were Howard and Cam, but none of them went after her.


	7. Chapter 7

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>Wednesday had come, and Cam was getting pretty bored of Ash that day. Thursday would be the Animal Festival and Ash would participate, so he was anxious. To make things worse, Lilian was there too and both of them were talking happily about it. Cam didn't know how she could be talking with him and Ash as if nothing had happened the day before. He also wanted to ask her about her family; it was the first time she mentioned them to him and he thought they were really alike in some points, as his own parents were also too busy to play with him at his childhood.<br>"Well, I need to go now," Lilian finally said, not before rummaging her rucksack for something. "Cam, this is for you. And this is for you Ash."  
>She handed a Magic Blue Flower to both of them and, after patting their backs, she left towards Eileen house.<br>"Man, she sure is a likeable girl," Ash said, his eyes following her. "I wonder what she is going to do on Eileen's house."  
>"Probably she is going to answer some request," Cam said as he placed the Magic Blue Flower with the other herbs she had given him.<br>"Or she is going to give something to her too. I wonder if it is ok to give this flower to Cheryl," Ash pondered as he diverted his attention from Lilian to the flower. "You know I'm not a man of flowers," he added.  
>"Yes, I know. She gave it to you, so it is yours to do as you please," Cam said, a bit of annoyance in his voice.<br>"Hey, hey, don't need to be so harsh," Ash said, laughing. "What is your problem? Are you jealous of me?" He wiggled his eyebrows.  
>"She gave me a flower too, why should I be jealous?" Cam asked, dodging Ash's gaze as much as he could.<br>Ash surely was taking it all like a joke, but Cam couldn't. Giving away a gift was something extremely rude for Cam, but he didn't want to have a fight with his best friend because of a woman. Even if that woman was Lilian.  
>"I was not talking about the flower, Cam," Ash clarified. "I was talking about having a sister. You don't have someone to care about, do you?"<br>"I have Howard and Laney," Cam said. Even though his voice sounded as normal as it could be he did feel an ache on his heart.  
>"But I'm talking about someone closer. Since you're an only child you don't understand what it is like to have a brother or a sister. But seeing how close you and Lilian are, I was having some hope."<br>"What were you hoping for?" Cam asked, finally looking straight into Ash's eyes. The other straightened his back.  
>"She comes everyday to give us something, doesn't she? Cheryl does that to me too. She must really care about us, don't you think?"<br>Ash had a point. Maybe he could get closer to Lilian if he asked her about her family. That's when he decided that he would call Lilian to a walk the next time he had a chance.

Friday came and with it, Cam's day off. On his way to the riverbank he gave a stop on Jessica's Livestock.  
>"Congratulations Ash."<br>"Thanks man!"  
>As expected, Ash won the spring festival with one of his chickens. Even so, he would always be as happy as a kid for a couple days after winning.<br>"Do you want to see it?" Ash asked as a kid wanting to show off to his friends.  
>"Not now, I still have some places to go," Cam lied. It was his day off and he didn't really have much to do at all. But Ash didn't need to know that.<br>"Ok, take care then," Ash said as he waved to cam from the other side of the fence.

Cam had already passed by the big chicken pillars at the entrance of Bluebell when it happened: Lilian bumped on him and fell on the ground.  
>"Ouch… sorry, I didn't see you," she said as she rubbed her back before looking up to the person she had bumped into. "Ah, it is you Cam."<br>He helped her to get up and thought about the last happenings. That was the perfect time to talk!  
>"Hey Lilian. Do you want to go for a walk?"<br>Her mouth dropped open and it was obvious to him that she was surprised. When he was almost giving up on the idea, Lilian nodded.  
>"Sure... If you don't mind talking with me," she said happily.<br>He smiled and asked her where they should go. There were a bunch of places he liked to go, and since it was his day off, he would not mind going anywhere. Then she chooses to go to the riverbank and both of them went there.  
>Cam thought that asking about her parents would be easy, but in the end, he didn't manage to ask about them at all. All he could talk about was the weather and the mountain flowers. She didn't seem to mind the talk, so he got relieved about it. At least he didn't bore her to death. Maybe the next time he could ask about them.<br>Before both of them parted ways, Lilian handed him an herb and it reminded him of what Ash said about her.  
>"Why are you giving me gifts every day?" He questioned.<br>"Because I thought you would like them," she said simply.  
>Cam felt his face heating up.<br>"Thanks. You should tell me more about what you like too," he added.  
>"Sure," she agreed. "But let's do that another day. It is getting late and I need to go back to my farm."<br>He didn't notice at all, but it was past mid day after their talk. She was right, so they went back to their towns.

That Sunday Howard was sulking. He could not participate in the cooking contest and, to make things worse, Bluebell lost. Cam's rose was already fully grown, and he was bringing it to his teacher so they could extract the seeds from it. He was already on his pony and out of Bluebell when he noticed Lilian coming.  
>"Cam," she waved her hand from the short distance, running towards him. He stopped the pony and waited for her to reach for him. "Cam," she repeated, breathless.<br>"Breath first," he said, rummaging his things for a bottle of water and handing it to her.  
>"Thanks."<br>She was panting. And he wondered if she ran all the way from Konohana to Bluebell that late at night. After drinking some of the water she handed the bottle back and rummaged her own rucksack. Cam couldn't help but to get curious.  
>"Could you post this… while you're at the city?" She finally asked, showing him an envelope. It was addressed to "Philip", and he felt a bit weird about it.<br>"Sure I can," he agreed, and as he took the envelope from her hands he noticed her hands were cold and that she was shaking.  
>He did want to ask her what was going on, he really did. But he couldn't. Asking it would only delay her more and it was pretty late already. So he just decided to make the conversation as short as he could.<br>"Do you need anything else from the city?" He asked as he put the envelope inside his own bag.  
>"No, thanks," she said again with a smile.<br>She patted the pony and waved him goodbye while he took his way to the city. And he didn't know why, but all that started to bother him.

The first thing he did when he arrived in the city was not go to his friend house or to his teacher house. The first thing he did was go to a post office to post Lilian's letter.  
>"Good morning. I would like to post this," he said, handling the envelop to the clerk.<br>"It does not have a stamp. You will need to pay 10 G for it," he said.  
>It was not expensive, so he wrote down the address on some paper and paid for the stamp. Maybe he could ask his teacher if the place was too far from there.<br>When he was getting close to his teacher's house he noticed she was outside already. Surprised, he dismounted his horse and asked what was going on.  
>"It is very simple, dear. We are going to another city today," she said, pushing her shawl closer to her body.<br>"Another city...?" Cam asked, a bit confused.  
>"Yes, indeed. The person that sent me the sample seeds told me he could not mail them, but that if I got some time, I could go and get them from him."<br>"And what am I supposed to do?" He asked, thinking that maybe his travel to the city wasn't really a good idea.  
>"You're coming with me, of course!" Nina answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We are short on time, so help me here."<br>Cam was feeling a bit lost, but he helped his teacher to mount his pony, mounting right after and setting his course to Zephyr, a town not so far from the city.

It took around 2 hours for them to cross the city and to finally get to Zephyr town. The place had some gentle breeze and beautiful windmills. It was, without a doubt, a nice place. They crossed a river and the main town to arrive in a house a bit away from the rest.  
>"This is the place," Nina said, looking once again in a paper she had with the address written down. "Do you want to wait for me or are you coming?"<br>"I'm coming."  
>Cam didn't want to let Nina go there alone. He tied his pony reins to a tree nearby while Nina knocked the door.<br>"Who is there?" A man's voice asked.  
>"It's Nina. I talked with you over the phone about some flower seeds," she replied.<br>The door opened and they could see a man with long and black hair, some heavy and dark clothes that had a foreign look and a kind of turban on his head.  
>"Nice to meet you, my name is Lloyd," he introduced himself, offering his hand first to Nina and then to Cam. "Come on in please."<br>His house was small and had a lot of weird stuff that Cam had no idea what they were used for.  
>"I am really sorry about this. Our town never really had a post office, so I only send the seeds samples when I have the time to go to the city," he explained.<br>"It is ok, dear. Do you have them?"  
>"Yes, I separated them for you."<br>Cam was surprised that the man could find the seeds so fast in the middle of that huge mess.  
>"Thank you very much," Nina said with a bright smile.<br>"Since you came all the way here, why don't I treat you to some tea? Our cafe' is not big, but it sure is cozy," he offered.  
>"I will gladly accept it," Nina said, looking to Cam and waiting for his approval.<br>"I would like to go too."

Even if he said the cafe' was small it surely was bigger than Howard's cafe'. There were a granny at the counter and a young lass working as waitress. Both were blonde and had really gentle looks. There were also a blonde girl that should be as old as him wearing a hat with flower patterns and two young men, both with green eyes, sitting on one of the tables and talking lively about farming stuff. Cam thought that maybe one of them was a farmer, like Lilian. He didn't have much time to think about her, as the blonde lass came closer to take their order.  
>"What would you like today Lloyd?"<br>"Bring us some oolong tea and an apple pie, Marian," he said, looking to Nina and Cam and waiting for their approval. Both nodded.  
>"Right, will bring them in a minute," she nodded back before going back to the counter.<br>Their food had a magnificent flavor and aroma. If they lived in Bluebell they would never lose the cooking contests, was what Cam thought. After they finished eating Lloyd paid the bill and accompanied them till the town outskirts.  
>"I am really sorry for everything that happened," Lloyd started to apologize.<br>"Don't need to apologize," Nina told him. "I'm glad I could get the seeds. By the way, the next time I'll be sending my student instead, if you do not mind," she added as she pointed to Cam, which made him straighten his back.  
>"Is the young man with you your student?" Lloyd asked, probably taking note of the sudden change in his posture.<br>"Yes, indeed. It is him. His name is Cam. Excuse him if he doesn't talk much," she said with a giggle.  
>"Don't worry about that. I'll give you a call when I have more seeds then," Lloyd said.<br>"Thank you very much."  
>And after saying so, Cam and Nina went back to the city.<p>

By the time they were back his friend was waiting at a bench near Nina's house. Cam looked back to Nina as if asking for permission. She laughed.  
>"It is okay, Cam. You worked hard today, go have some fun," she said as she patted his back.<br>"Teacher, before I go," he stuttered.  
>"Yes?"<br>Cam got a piece of paper from his pocket. The same piece of paper he wrote Philip's address down.  
>"Do you know where this place is?"<br>"No, I don't, sorry," she said after giving a briefly look at the address. "Why don't you ask your friend? He might know."  
>Cam's friend, Vaughn, was another introvert. Even so, he used to travel a lot, so he knew a lot of places. Asking him was not a bad idea at all. Cam nodded and headed his way.<br>"Hey Cam. It's been a while."  
>"Sure it has."<br>Both of them talked about animals, flowers and girls. That was all they talked about. But that day, Cam had something important to ask.  
>"I am looking for this address," he said, handing the note to Vaughn.<br>He took the paper and gave it a look.  
>"Sorry, I don't know it too. But if you allow me to keep this paper, I can ask around and see if I find something," he said.<br>Cam didn't know if he should keep his pursuit after that Philip, but he also didn't ask the piece of paper back. Deep inside he knew it: he wanted to know who that person was and what were his business with Lilian.  
>The day slowly turned into night and Cam took his way back to Bluebell with new summer seeds to try out. This time he would not wait to plant them. When he was back to Bluebell he felt exhausted. There were some few hours before he had to open his stall, so he went to his bed and slept.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

The funny thing about writing this fanfic is that, since it pass by as the seasons, I need to control it so I don't rush things. I know it must be frustrating to most of you that Cam does not like Lilian that much yet, but I'm really doing my best here.  
>I am wondering if anyone else is wondering why I'm writting "Lilian" instead of Lillian and "Philip" instead of Phillip. That's very simple: the name has to fit into 6 spaces, wich is the amount we have in game. So I just did my own thing to fit the name in. Hope no one minds it.<br>Thanks to everyone that read this fanfic so far. It is my first one and it is in english, that is not my mother language, so I do hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless.

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>When Cam woke up it was past 11 AM. He overslept.<br>"Howard!" he shouted.  
>"What is it dear?" The big man asked, a bit worried.<br>"Why didn't you wake me up?" Cam asked, quickly getting changed into his usual purple outfit.  
>"You were sleeping so well that neither I nor Laney had the courage," he said sheepishly.<br>As Howard mentioned Laney, Cam slowed down a bit. Did Laney go to his room while he was sleeping? Just thinking about that made him blush. And he was late!  
>"Cam, dear... it is the last day of the season! Why don't you take a day off?" Howard asked.<br>"Even if it is the last day of a season, there are people who might come. Talk to you later!"  
>"Work hard son!" Howard said as he waved.<br>Cam had everything planed already. Since his experiment with the pink roses was a success he would sell the red roses he got from Lloyd. They would be his best bet. And since he felt way more confident about his perfume technique, he would start selling them too. He had some ideas about new flowers that he could use, and the one that was attracting him more were the sunflowers. They sold for a good price, not to mention that he also would get a good profit. His only enemy would be the weather. And he had reasons to be worried, since summer was a typhoon season. He would have to take extra care.

Late that day Lilian showed up. She looked exhausted, her clothes were all muddy and her hair was a mess. Probably she had to finish off her crops, since it was the last day of the season. And that made him remember why he loved Bluebell so much. They talked until he had to close his stall, and he thought it would be a good time to ask her about her parents.  
>"Hey Lilian, let's go to the flower beds. I want to talk with you," he invited.<br>"Sure," she said, following him.  
>The flowers bed was close to Howard's cafe', so they only walked a short distance. Cam noticed that Lilian smelled the flowers and her face changed from a tired look to a relaxed one.<br>"Looks like you really like flowers Lilian," he said.  
>"Yes, I really do," she replied.<br>"Did you know that those flowers are cared by Rose?" He asked her. "She comes everyday to water them and care for them."  
>"I can notice that," she smiled. "They're gentle flowers, just like Rose is a gentle person."<br>"She is not the only gentle person in Bluebell, you know. In fact, everyone around here is. You should move here someday," he proposed.  
>She laughed. And her laugh was light and cheerful. In that short moment, Cam could care less about the world around them. Lilian was everything he could see. He was so absorbed that he ended up forgetting to ask about her parents again. When he remembered it, he was already in his bed half asleep.<p>

The first day of summer finally came and everyone could see a busy Lilian coming and going from Bluebell to Konohana. Cam noticed that, for the first time since she moved to Konohana, she was dressed in different clothes. This time she was dressed with light blue pants, a matching handkerchief on her head, a white blouse with a dark blue jersey over it and a yellow apron.  
>"Did you see her new clothes Cam?" Ash asked him as he elbowed his arm. "She looks lovely!"<br>Those were not the kind of clothes Cam liked, but Ash surely liked them.  
>"Maybe I should tell her how cute she looks with them the next time I see her," Ash said, not taking his eyes from her.<br>"Cheryl will get mad at you," Cam said, even though his eyes were also following Lilian around.  
>"Common man!" Ash complained, looking him in the face for the first time since Lilian showed up. "You've been such a downer when I talk about her. Do you like her by any chance? If you do, tell me now so I can step aside."<br>Cam didn't know what to answer. He was getting pretty attached to Lilian, but he didn't like her in that way. Or so he thought.  
>"I don't mind," he shrugged, taking his eyes off of her and arranging some flowers.<br>"Good! I don't know what I would do if you said you like her," Ash confessed.  
>That day she didn't talk much with them. She just passed by, gave one flower to each of them, bought some seeds and ran all the way to Eileen's house. This time, Eileen went with her to Konohana, probably for an upgrade. The first day of a season was always the busiest for everyone. Even Cam was busy while planting summer flowers, so it was understandable that she didn't have much time to talk with them. Even so, both Ash and Cam missed her that Wednesday.<p>

It was around 4 PM when Rutger came by Cam's stall with a young man by his side. Cam recognized the guy as soon as he laid his eyes on him: he was one of the two men he meets on the cafe' in Zephyr Town.  
>"This is Dirk. From today onwards, he will be in charge of delivering mail," Rutger introduced him.<br>The young man extended his hand to Cam, which he took to greet back.  
>"Nice to meet you, I'm Cam. If you ever need flowers, let me know," Cam offered, even though he doubted that a mailman would need flowers.<br>"Nice to meet you too. I will be in your care from now on," Dirk replied, offering his hand, which Cam took.  
>The guy had a mature looking, yet, he was awfully cheerful. His clothes had the color of wine, his hair had the color of caramel and his eyes were bright green. He had a big bag on his shoulder with a few letters already.<br>"Did you meet everyone in town already?" Cam asked.  
>"No," Dirk answered with a bright smile."<br>"I was going to bring him to Howard now," Rutger explained.  
>"I can do that for you, mayor," Cam offered.<br>"Thank you Cam," Rutger said as he left the two and headed back to the town hall.  
>Cam closed his stall and walked in the cafe' with Dirk.<br>"Howard, Laney, I want to introduce someone," Cam said, waving for Dirk to follow him. "This is Dirk. He will work as a mailman from today onwards."  
>"Oh! Finally we will be able to trade letters! This is so exciting!" Howard exulted.<br>"Nice to meet you. I'm Laney. And this is my father, Howard," Laney took care of introducing both of them.  
>"Nice to meet you two!" Dirk replied.<br>He was a nice person. At least it looked like it. Too bad, he also would live in Konohana. Why people didn't choose to live in Bluebell? It was a mystery for him.  
>"Hey Dirk, are you in a hurry?" Cam asked.<br>"No, why?" The other asked, tilting his head to the side.  
>"Could you wait until I finish writing a letter? It will be very fast," he asked.<br>"Sure thing. I'll take my time looking at the cafe', if you don't mind," he smiled again. "Heh, it sure bring back memories."  
>Cam went into his room, took a paper and a pen from his belongings and wrote:<br>"Ash and I missed you today. Are you coming tomorrow? The summer sun is strong, so be careful so you don't get dehydrated. And make sure to keep your crops and flowers always watered."  
>He folded it as an envelope and addressed it to Lilian before handling it to Dirk, which was talking with Howard.<br>"It is really incredible. You make the same food but with another ingredients. And they taste as good as the ones at my hometown!" Dirk said, eating some sweet that Howard had offered him.  
>"That's because I love to cook!" Howard said.<br>Noticing that Cam was standing there Dirk finished whatever was it he was eating and waved to Howard and Laney before going back on duty. As he noticed the addressee, he asked if Cam wanted it to be delivered that same day.  
>"If you can do that, it would be wonderful."<br>"Hehe. She is my neighbor, so it won't be a problem," Dirk said as he put the letter inside his bag. "Unless she is sleeping by the time I arrive at Konohana. Well, I must be going now. Thanks for the food!" He said, giving a last look to Howard and Laney before leaving the cafe'. And as he waved his goodbye the door shut behind him. All Cam could care about was if the letter would arrive safely.

The next day, Cam could enjoy his day off. He was sitting near the riverbank when he heard a gallop coming closer. It got louder and closer until it stopped. As he turned to look around, Lilian was tying her horse to a tree nearby and coming his way. When she sat by his side he started to think about what to talk about. That was until he noticed she was rummaging through her belongings, looking for something. "It must be my daily herb", he thought. But he went as white as milk when he noticed she had his letter, the one he wrote the day before, in her hands.  
>"Was it you who sent me this?"<br>Cam turned his face around as to not see Lilian. He didn't want to say anything weird, but he nodded to confirm that the letter was, indeed, from him. She giggled.  
>"I should thank you for your concern. I didn't know you were worried about me. Thanks."<br>When he turned to face her again he was stopped midway by surprise as she kissed his cheek. He stayed still as she rose from her sitting spot and left. His cheeks were burning. And only when she was far enough he noticed that, where she was, there was an envelope with an herb attached to it. He opened it just to read her sweet words:  
>"I am sorry I was so busy yesterday. The first day of a season is always the busiest for me, but I'll make up for it. Let's meet again and talk soon."<br>Even if they were sweet, somehow her words hurt him. At that moment, he didn't know why, but it would not take too long for him to understand.

Another Monday came and this time, Cam was not going to meet Nina. He decided to pay a visit to Vaughn early in the morning.  
>"Hey Cam. It is nice to see you again."<br>"Hi Vaughn. Can we talk?"  
>Vaughn's house was small and cozy. The kind of house a single man would have, but not as messy as most of the men's rooms Cam had seen in all his life. Not like he had seen many.<br>"I wanted to ask you if you found something about the address I left with you," Cam asked.  
>"Oh, right," Vaughn answered as he walked up to the coffee table and grabbed the same note that Cam had left with him, though this time around it had a lot of scribbling that he couldn't decipher. "Indeed, I found something."<br>Then Vaughn took something from his pockets and gave both papers to Cam. He didn't even try to decipher the scribbling but he did open the paper Vaughn took from his pocket and read it. He was surprised with what he saw.  
>"Is this…"<br>"Yes, it is exactly what it looks like. Luck was by our side, you see. He works around the docks, so it was not hard to find info about him. And with the right approach I could get a lot of information about him. I wrote it all down. Thought you'd like that."  
>As Cam was reading it he didn't see anything about a girlfriend, which made him release a sigh of relief. But then, what could they be?<br>"Do you mind if I-"  
>"I knew you would ask." Vaughn said with a smirk. "It is ok, you can keep it. But first you will have to tell me what's gotten into you to be all interested in someone like him. He is completely the opposite of us, if you ask me."<br>Cam clenched his fists. Indeed, it was weird for him to be this interested in this guy. But he couldn't help at all. He had a connection with Lilian, and somehow this was enough to make him want to find out more about him. He pondered if he should talk about it with Vaughn. After all, he was his best friend. And he had a girlfriend; maybe he could give him some advice.  
>"This guy has some kind of relationship with the girl I am interested in," Cam confessed.<br>"Oh? This sure is something new to me," Vaughn said, mildly surprised and a bit happy. "I always thought you would live forever for your flowers. Are you talking about the girl from the cafe'?"  
>In that short second that Vaughn mentioned "the girl from the cafe'", Cam thought about Laney and about all his feelings for her. He sure liked her, but something about Lilian shook him up. Even so, he was feeling a bit guilty for starting to like someone other than Laney.<br>"Actually... No, it is not her," he said, noticing how honest he was being today. "It is a new girl that moved to Konohana."  
>"Oh common!" Vaughn said laughing. "Are you serious? Isn't Konohana like... The utmost Bluebell s enemy?"<br>"She is different. She wasn't born there."  
>Then it rang a bell inside Cam's head. Lilian had a life before going to Konohana, but he didn't know anything about that life. Was it easy or hard? Did she have friends? And what about her family? Cam had too many questions and only one clue: the guy from the letter, Philip.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

I prepared a good surprise to everyone in this chapter. I hope everyone likes it!

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>Tuesday would be Grady's birthday. Georgia was super excited, but she wasn't very good to cook anything other than sweets, so Jessica and Howard would give her a hand to prepare something. Cam knew he liked Magic Blue Flowers, so he got one from his way back from the city. That last Monday proved to be pretty exciting, since he got two more flowers meaning.<br>"I should go help her too, shouldn't I?" Laney asked, looking to the Cafe', pondering.  
>"Howard won't need you?" Cam asked, trying not to meddle too much on her decision.<br>"I think he won't, but who knows for sure?" was her answer as she shrugged.  
>Laney was trying to convince herself that Howard would not need her at the cafe' for time enough for her to go help Georgia with the party. The Red haired girl was pretty shy when she first got to Bluebell, but thanks to Laney's efforts, she opened up to the townspeople and now she could at least talk with others normally.<br>"I won't know if I don't ask him," she decided. "Excuse me Cam!"  
>And there she goes to the cafe'. Not many minutes had passed when she went out and ran all the way to Grady's animals. By the smile on her face Cam knew that Howard's answer was positive.<p>

That day Lilian passed by to give her daily gifts and talk with everyone, as usual.  
>"Ash put up a request that was pretty hard to accomplish, but I finally did it. So now I have an stethoscope. Look!"<br>She was more cheerful than everyday and he thought it could be because she liked sunny days. But for him, hot days were like a nightmare. He came back from his dream world when he felt something cold on his skin. When he looked at it, Lilian was using the stethoscope on him, which made him flinch.  
>"Your heart is racing, Cam," a frown forming between her brows. "You told me to watch out for my health and not get dehydrated, but you're the one who is going to get in trouble if you don't take care of yourself."<br>And as she said that, she got a small cup from her rucksack and for a moment, he shrugged. He didn't like juices, and he was sure that the only thing people drank on summer would be juices. But how could he tell her that he didn't like them? To his surprise, what she had didn't look like juice.  
>"What is this...?" He asked as he watched the liquid inside the glass. It had a greenish color.<br>"Do you remember you gave me some tea from a request some time ago? I didn't use it until now, but since it's been so hot every day, I thought some iced tea would be good."  
>And then she poured a bit into the cup for him.<br>"Please, drink it."  
>It was surprisingly good. Cam was used to drink tea right after making it, so iced tea was something new to him.<br>"Thank you," he finally said between one sipping and another.  
>"You're welcome," she said with a smile. "But please, make sure you drink something. You're the only person that I know that works on rainy days. And you're also the only one that works outside. Instead of worrying about everyone else, take care of yourself."<br>Her voice was soft and kind while her words were harsh, but he understood what her point was. She was worried. The same way he was some days ago about her.

Flower Days would always be good days for the villagers, but sometimes it could be awkward. It was even more awkward now that they had Lilian coming everyday to gift them flowers and herbs. And there was also Dirk. Even if his house was in Konohana he spent most of his days traveling from one town to the other while delivering mail, so they had 2 people from Konohana in town, everyday. Some people tried their best to not talk much about the festivals in Bluebell with them, while others tried their best to convince Lilian to move from Konohana to Bluebell by talking about the marvelous festivals they held. Later that day Ash came to visit. He thought he would only give him a flower, but instead he started to talk.  
>"I gave a flower to Lilian today. She looked pretty happy with it. Maybe she likes flowers."<br>Cam knew that she liked them already. It was pretty obvious from the amount of seeds she bought from him. What bothered him was not Ash's statement about something so obvious but his actions. He gave a flower to Lilian.  
>"You should not spend flowers with Lilian when you should be giving flowers to everyone here.," Cam said, trying not to show any emotions as he said that.<br>"Don't worry, I had some spare flowers. And she looked so cute. She even blushed!" Ash laughed.  
>Cam couldn't help feeling a bit bitter. She passed by that same day and he didn't think about giving her a flower while Ash did. She got happy from a flower that was not his. And she blushed to someone that was not him. What would he do if she started to like Ash?<br>"I need to finish watering my flowers," Cam said, hoping Ash would take the clue and leave.  
>"Ok, see you later then," the other said.<br>Cam thought that nothing could be worse than that, but he would find himself wrong soon enough.

When Cam noticed, Lilian's horse was tied outside of the cafe'. It would be good to see her after a day of work. Maybe he could even give her a flower. But once he went inside, he overheard Howard talking with Dirk.  
>"You mean she fell in the river?" Howard asked, hands on his face, a desperate expression on his face.<br>"Yes! And she passed out when she did. I don't know what would happen if I was not around," Dirk was explaining. "Lucky enough she was with her horse, so I could get her back to Konohana safely. She is at the clinic there now."  
>"Wait a second!" Cam shouted.<br>He could not pretend he was not there after hearing that. Dirk had a serious face which didn't combine with his usual cheerfulness while Howard was almost crying.  
>"If she is at the clinic, what is her horse doing outside?" He asked, trying to keep calm.<br>"Because of having to go back to Konohana I was late, so I used her horse to come here and deliver the mail faster. I still need to finish delivering the mail, so if you will excuse me," Dirk bowed his head and was about to leave when Cam grabbed his arm.  
>"Wait!"<br>He didn't notice how much strength he was using until he noticed the pain in the other man's face.  
>"Ah, sorry," he tried to apologize.<br>"Cam, dear calm down," Howard asked, wiping some tears on his apron.  
>"I understand you're worried, but there is nothing you can do," Dirk started. "Doctor Ayame and Hiro are taking care of her, so don't worry," he said. But as he noticed the others weren't convinced he kept going. "Probably tomorrow she will be back to her normal. Now, if you excuse me, I <em>really<em> have to hurry and finish delivering the mail."  
>Cam was devastated. For a second, he thought about what he could do.<br>"Cam dear, I know this face. What are you planning to do?" Howard asked.  
>"I'll go to Konohana."<p>

Not long after Dirk left the cafe' Cam also went out. He rushed to Grady's animals and asked for his horse.  
>"But it is not Monday yet," Grady said, scratching the back of his head. "Did something happen?"<br>"Lilian passed out in the mountains and I wanted to go see how she is."  
>Grady was one of the few people that did not seem to care about Bluebell and Konohana rivalry. In fact, he even showed concern when Cam told him what happened to Lilian. It didn't take long until he finished arranging the usual pony for Cam to go to Konohana.<br>"You know the road to the summit, right?" Grady started to explain. "After you get there just keep following the same road until the landscape changes. Keep going and you'll be in Konohana," Grady gave one more look to Cam and gave a shy smile. "Take care son."  
>"Thank you."<p>

Around an hour had passed when Cam arrived in Konohana. The first thing he noticed were the lots of bamboos and cherry trees. The landscape was really beautiful there.  
>The first building he found was a tatami house with a small field full of corns. On the little board he read "Sheng's smithy". Not the place he wanted. He went inside the town's gate and found another house with a stone path, this time with a field of onions and a big mail box in the front. He thought that would be Dirk's house and he remembered something about Lilian being his neighbor. He looked around and saw a shipping bin to his left. Lilian would not live by the ship bin. Then he turned around and saw a path into a farm and a house with red lanterns hanging from the ceiling with a fenced space that looked pretty much like Grady's shop. There was a board in front of it where he read "Kana's Animals". She sure didn't live in there also. The best place to look was in the farm, and then he headed inside it.<p>

Inside there he saw a somewhat big field with lots of flowers, radishes and a corn. He noticed the amount of flowers was way bigger than crops and it somehow reminded him of Ash. If he didn't say anything, she sure would have a full field of flowers, he was sure of it.  
>He noticed she had a small pasture and that her animals were still outside. Probably she didn't have any dog or cat to help her herd them back inside the barn, so he decided to do so. After that he took a watering can from his belongings and started to water her crops. He left out a huge sigh after seeing the size of her field and wondered how much it would take him to water everything, but as he watered one of the plants 4 more were watered along before his watering can got empty. Just then he saw that her crops were planted in trenches. Brilliant! That would save him a lot of time and work.<p>

He spent a bit more than thirty minutes watering everything before deciding to go look for the clinic. When he was leaving the farm he ended up bumping into Dirk.  
>"Hey Cam! What are you doing here?"<br>"I thought that since Lilian passed out I should come and help her a bit."  
>Dirk went inside her farm and helped the horse inside the barn, then came back to where Cam was waiting.<br>"That sure helps," the mailman said, cheerfully. "I was going to do this when I came back, but since you already did I think we can go to the clinic and check on her."  
>"That's exactly what I wanted to do," Cam said, allowing himself to smile.<br>Cam didn't want to wait for Dirk or to depend on him, but he didn't know Konohana or its villagers. It would be better if he had someone to come along with him, and Dirk was the perfect choice.

The walk to the clinic was, at much, fifteen minutes longer. They stopped in front of a big building with a fence made of shrubs, which really impressed Cam. Dirk was the one to knock on the door. The one that answered it was a young man with white vests, dark brown eyes and hair and a stethoscope hanging from his neck.  
>"Hey Hiro," Dirk greeted. "How is Lilian?"<br>"She is sleeping. She was really lucky you found her. At her state, if you didn't find her she could have drowned."  
>"Hehe, don t mention it," Dirk said, blushing. "Can we see her?"<br>Finally the young doctor noticed that Dirk was not alone. Probably he recognized Cam from one of the many cooking contests they participated, because he looked reluctant to let Cam in.  
>"It is ok, he is a friend. Let us in, will you?"<br>"Ok," the young man reluctantly agreed.  
>Inside there was a huge L shaped balcony. They followed the young doctor into a room with four beds. Lilian was lying in one of them, snoring.<br>"Will she be fine?" Cam asked.  
>"Yes, she will. As I said, now she is only sleeping."<br>Hiro went closer to her and caressed her forehead while looking at her tenderly. It was just at that time that Cam noticed how naive he was. Ash was not his only love rival. There were also the Konohana guys, whom he knew nothing about. This only made him sulk while sitting on a chair by Lilian's bed. The fatigue grew on him at the point that he couldn't help to fall sleep in there.

By the time he woke up he found a smiling Lilian looking closely at his face. As soon as she noticed he woke up she moved away, as if she was running away from him. Her face was deep red and Cam wondered if he was really awake. If this was a dream, it was a really good one. He rose from the chair he was sitting and walked up to her, while she covered herself with the bed sheets. He pulled the sheet as to see her face. She had a flustered look on her face. He caressed her face and felt her cheeks burning. "It's so cute," he thought, and moved closer. Their mouths were just a few inches of distance. And, before he knew it, he pushed his lips on hers and closed his eyes.  
>"If this is a dream, I should wake up any minute now," was what he thought. But he didn't wake up, and the feeling of his lips on hers was getting more passionate. It was too real to be a dream. He had already decided to open his eyes when he felt a gentle touch on his face. If it was just a dream, it would not hurt to keep going. So he decided to touch her too. His hand reached her soft hair and he could smell the faint smell of flowers, probably from one of the so many perfumes she always bought from him. He was impressed by his own dream for making up so many details. His hands were moving down to her chest when a voice brought him back to reality.<p>

"I'm sorry!"  
>When they looked at it, Hiro was standing there with an astonished look on his face. Lilian jumped from the bed as if it had a million nails and ran away from the clinic. It took one second for Cam to find out that he was not dreaming and one more second to think if he should pursue her or if he should go back to Bluebell. The only thing he knew is that they kissed, that there was a young doctor almost crying, begging forgiveness as if he had seen something that he shouldn't and that, if it wasn't for this doctor, he would have done something that he shouldn't.<br>"I didn't know you two were dating," he cried.  
>"We are not," Cam said, scratching the back of his head.<br>Hiro looked at him, confused.  
>"But right now you two were..."<br>"I was the one who started it," Cam confessed. "It is not like that between us. Now, if you excuse me." And before he could do any more mistakes he mounted on his pony. His cheeks were burning, his hands were shaking, his heart was rushing and his lips were longing for the kiss from moments ago. "What was I doing?" was what he kept asking himself all the way from Konohana to Bluebell.

Back to the cafe', the first thing he did was take a cold shower. He had to go back to reality. To the reality that he lived in Bluebell, he had a crush on Laney, Lilian was one of his many clients and that they kissed. _They kissed._  
>When he was out from the shower Howard grabbed his arm and asked, his eyes swollen, probably from crying the whole night.<br>"How she was?"  
>Just then, his senses seemed to come together again. He was worried with Lilian's health after hearing from Dirk that she passed out, so probably their kiss also was out of worry. Even if it was not like that, he thought it would be better to think about it like that. This would even help him to make up some excuse for when she came again. But first, he had to answer to Howard and make sure he would calm down.<br>"She was sleeping when I got there and she woke up before I came back, so she probably is fine."  
>"Thanks Goddess that she is! Should I pay her a visit?" He asked, a big smile on his face.<br>"It is up to you, really," Cam answered, trying to not show any feelings with that answer.  
>Cam wondered why Howard was so worried with her, but he couldn't be bothered to think about it. For now, he should work out on his excuse for his behavior earlier.<p>

It was late already on that same day. Lilian didn't go to Bluebell at all and Cam was trying to not think too much about it. He was back to the cafe' when Howard waved a letter addressed to him.  
>"Dirk left this to you. It's from Lilian."<br>As he heard the name, he froze. When did she write it? And why didn't she deliver it directly to him, if she already did it once? He took the letter from Howard's hand and ripped the envelope open to read its content.

_Dear Cam,_  
><em>I m sorry. Probably you heard I passed out and came to Konohana to check if I was alright. You must have been really worried with me. I'm glad you came all the way here just to see me.<em>  
><em>But I'm writing you to talk about what happened earlier today. Probably you were confused by your worry or by your fatigue, so you must have mistaken me by Laney in your sleep. Do not worry, I did not misunderstand it. I'll pretend nothing happened, so you can do the same. Let's keep being friends.<em>  
><em>From your friend, Lilian<em>

He didn't know if he should feel relieved or if he should be angry. Somewhere inside he was really happy that she thought about everything that happened as a mistake, but other part of him was really bothered by it. And why did she mention Laney on her letter? How come she knew he liked Laney? The more he read her letter, more puzzled he would get. The only thing he knew for sure was that she wanted to pretend that nothing happened and that she wanted to keep being friends. That alone reassured him that she would visit again. It was all he needed to know.


	10. Chapter 10

After reading this chapter, if you please, read A Typhoon Day for details about Lilian's past.

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>The days passed by quickly and before Cam knew it, it was Monday again. He and Vaughn decided to go to the port and talk with Philip to find out more about him.<br>"Hey Cam. I've wanted to tell you something." Vaughn started.  
>"What is it?" Cam asked, curious.<br>"Me and Chelsea... Well, she bought a blue feather, you see..."  
>Blue Feathers were known as a sign of marriage proposal. It was a really popular item between girls, so most of the guys used them to propose. But nowadays, girls were also using them to propose to the guys they liked.<br>"And she gave it to you?" Cam was surprised.  
>"Indeed," Vaughn nodded. "And I agreed. We will marry in a week," he announced, smiling.<br>"Congratulations man!" Cam patted the other man's shoulder.  
>Vaughn was a lonesome, so when he started dating Chelsea everyone said that it would not last. Their relationship got closer and deeper to the point that she would come often to the city with him. She was one of the few people that Vaughn would feel at ease to smile around. It was only natural that they would marry.<br>"Yeah, yeah, but there is more."  
>"More?"<br>"Yes. She wants you to make her bouquet," Vaughn said, his serious self back. "And I'm supposed to bring you to the island for the marriage. She insists that we marry there," he shrugged.  
>Cam didn't know what to think about it. For sure he could make her a bouquet, but going to the island would mean being away for some time.<br>"I will talk with Howard and Laney about it."  
>"And what about the other girl?"<br>"Ah..."  
>For a minute, Cam got reminded of what he wanted to talk with Vaughn. He took a deep breath as if he was going to say it out loud to the whole world, but in the end, his voice sounded more like a whisper.<br>"We kissed..."  
>"You what?" Vaughn asked, his voice a bit louder than what Cam was used to.<br>"We kissed! Don't make me repeat it!" Cam scolded.  
>Cam felt his cheeks burning and he knew he should not have started that topic.<br>"Ok, don't need to repeat, but... why are you telling me?" Vaughn asked, confused.  
>Then Cam took an envelope from his belongings. It was the letter Lilian wrote to him that same day. Vaughn looked to Cam as if asking for permission to read it first and when he got it, he read the letter.<br>"Seems like you screwed up," Vaughn finally said, giving the letter back to Cam.  
>"I did not," he explained, putting the letter back in his bag. "She is the one that mistook everything."<br>"But you didn't tell her that she did, do you?"  
>Cam couldn't reply. Indeed, it made him feel better that she took it as a mistake than telling her what he really felt. And since Vaughn knew him so well, he didn't need to say it.<br>"It is ok, Cam... If you think this is the right thing to do, then just keep doing it. Chelsea likes me for who I am; probably it will be the same with you."  
>"I'm not so sure about it. She mentioned Laney."<br>"Probably because she already noticed how close you two are," Vaughn explained. "It is up to you to show her that your relationship with Laney is not like that. That is, if you really don't feel like that."  
>Even if everything that they talked only made him more and more confused, one thing was clear: He could not keep being over the edge as he was until now. If he wanted Laney or Lilian, he would have to make up his mind.<p>

After walking on the docks for a few minutes they finally found him. Philip was as young as them and was not wearing any shirt, just a jeans pant and some heavy-looking boots.  
>"Excuse me," Cam called.<br>"Yes?" The other said, wiping his face in a handkerchief he had on his back pocket. "How can I help you?"  
>"We are looking for a guy called Philip and they told us to look around here. Is that you?" Cam asked.<br>"Yes, that's me. What do you want?"  
>Since Cam couldn't seem to talk about it, Vaughn took the chance and spoke.<br>"You see, we are looking for someone that knows a girl called Lilian."  
>"Did anything happen to my sister?" the young man asked, grabbing Vaughn's arm.<br>For the first time since they started talking the guy really stopped what he was doing to pay attention to them. His expression changed from indifference to worry in a second and from the look on Vaughn's face his grip was really tight. _"No wonder"_, Cam thought. _"He said she was his sister."_  
>"Ah, no. She is fine." Cam rushed to reply, Philip finally loosening his grip on Vaughn's arm.<br>"Then why are you here?" Philip asked with a cocked brow.  
>Again, Cam didn't know what to say. He was bad at making excuses. For his luck, Vaughn was with him.<br>"She just asked us to check on you," he lied. "To see if you're doing fine."  
>Philip didn't seem very convinced of their motives.<br>"If she wanted to know if I am fine she would not send someone else, she would come herself. We've been exchanging letter for some time, so she knows I am fine. Unless something happened to her?" Philip's expression changed again, this time the worry was back there. "Are you guys hiding something from me?"  
>The guy was sharp and Cam thought he could not fool him. He was almost giving up and revealing their real plans when, again, Vaughn intervened.<br>"She is really fine, don't worry. We just happened to be coming here, so she asked us to check on you. It is really nothing big, I swear."  
>After hearing what Vaughn said, Philip seemed to calm down.<br>"Good," for the first time Philip's expression was calm. "Since you went through all the trouble to come around here, could you do me a favor and deliver a letter to her?"  
>"Sure thing," Vaughn answered before Cam could say anything to put them into a tight spot again.<br>Philip went inside the small building where he was working and brought an envelope back.  
>"I was going to post it tomorrow since it is my day off, but since you guys are here already, I think it won't hurt," he smiled.<br>"You can count on us. Now, excuse us, we need to go already," Vaughn said, tipping his hat's brim up.  
>"Sure. Tell her that I really miss her and that I might pay her a visit soon!"<p>

"At least now you know they're siblings. Quit worrying so much," Vaughn told Cam.  
>"How?" He asked. "Now I have a letter from him that I should deliver to her. How am I supposed to explain that?"<br>"Didn't you say there is a mailman at your city now? Give it to him and he will deliver it instead of you. Think with your own brain for once," Vaughn said, shuffling Cam's beret over his head and messing his hair.  
>Everything seemed perfect until now. The only thing that he still had to work out was his relationship with Laney and Lilian.<br>"I should be going; Nina must be waiting for me already."  
>"Go for it. And don't make any mistake while I'm not around."<p>

Nina was, indeed, waiting for him when he finally arrived at her house.  
>"You're late Cam," she said, hands over her hips.<br>"I'm sorry. I've been busy doing some research."  
>Nina faced Cam for a few seconds and smirked.<br>"Why are you like that?" He asked, confused.  
>"I know you since you've been a kid. You can't fool me Cam. But if you don't want to tell me what is going on, then I won't meddle in it. Now come here, we have a lot to do."<br>Even if Nina knew him since he was a kid he couldn't bring his love affairs into a conversation with her. She knew about Laney's existence but he never told her anything more than his interest in the daughter of the owner of the cafe'.  
>That day Nina made him work on some flower arrangements while she explained some flowers meanings.<br>"There are some fruit flowers that also have meanings. Pineapple is one of them."  
>"Pineapple?" Cam asked, incredulous.<br>"Yes. There are also cherry, orange, peach and apple blossoms. Each one of them has their own meanings. You need to learn them all if you want to understand them better for the flower contests."  
>"There are so many... I wonder when I'll be able to participate again," he wondered.<br>"Probably around winter," Nina said with a smile. "But you will have to do better than you've been showing me those last weeks. Your attention seems to be very far from here. Forget everything when you're here and concentrate on the flowers. Only on the flowers."  
>Cam used to think he could be the best but the 2nd place was the best he ever managed to grab. Now that he started to learn the flowers meaning he started to see them under a new perspective. And somehow he managed to understand all his failures so far.<p>

Wednesdays were always happy days to Cam. But not that week. He woke up with a typhoon raging outside. Now he would have to wait the next day to see Dirk and give him Philip's letter.  
>"So much for my happy day," he mumbled, looking outside the window.<br>He decided to use his time to study some books but was interrupted by the smell of bread at the cafe's kitchen.  
>"This smell is really good," he said right after opening his door.<br>"Hey Cam! Join us! We were going to start making soup," Howard invited.  
>"Which one?" He asked, curious.<br>"Tom Yum Goong. It is your favorite, right?" Laney answered.  
>"It is!" He cheered up.<br>They were talking happily when the front door rang and they saw someone coming in. It was Lilian. She was all drenched and trembling.  
>"Lilian, my dear, what are you doing here?" Howard asked, rushing to where she was. "And in the middle of a typhoon!"<br>"I just wanted to see you all," she said with a shy smile.  
>"Laney! Hurry and get a towel. Bring it to my room!" Howard asked.<br>"Yes!" She answered, rushing upstairs.  
>Howard took Lilian by her hand and pulled her upstairs and into his room. Cam just stood there, without knowing what to do. Not too long after that, Laney came back downstairs and kept preparing the soup; this time, enough to feed four. The soup was almost ready when Howard and Lilian came back downstairs. Lilian was dressed in a yellow dress with little red flowers all over it and some laces. Those sure were not her clothes, but it sure fit her.<br>"You look wonderful in this dress, Lilian," Laney smiled when she saw the other girl's clothes. "I'm sure mother would be happy to see it."  
>Cam was getting more and more surprised, but as his eyes meet Lilian's eyes, she blushed and turned her gaze to the ground, as if the floor was the most interesting thing she ever saw in her life. Probably she was still thinking about what happened in the clinic back in Konohana. And by the memory of it, Cam also blushed.<br>"Let's eat while it is still hot. And you will stay here today, Lil," Howard said.  
>"What?" Cam and Lilian said it at the same time, both with shocked faces.<br>"You don't plan on going out into the typhoon again, do you?" Howard asked, frowning.  
>"Oh please... I already troubled you guys enough."<br>"It is not trouble, Lilian. We all like you," Laney said. "You can sleep in my room. What do you say?"  
>Lilian looked to Cam, as if she was asking him to get her out of that situation, and the only thing he could think about was the town hall.<br>"If you don't want to, at least sleep at the town hall. Going all the way from here to Konohana in the middle of this typhoon is craziness."  
>She released a sigh as if that's exactly what she was expecting and smiled.<br>"I will do that then. Thanks."  
>"But at least spend the day with us! Promise!" Howard asked, pouting.<br>She laughed and seemed to be back to her normal self, but Cam was having a battle inside him. If he didn't meddle, Lilian would be sleeping at the cafe', and he could watch her sleep again. If, at least, he didn't say anything...

"Cam, you go with her to the town hall," Howard said.  
>"Me?"<br>"Yes, you!" Howard said with his hands crossed over his chest. "It was you who gave her the idea, wasn't it? Be responsible. You should not let a damsel to go out alone in this kind of weather."  
>"Ok, ok, I'll go."<br>"And you, Lilian! Don't feel sorry for him. Grab his arm so you won't fall or hurt yourself. It is just a short distance, but in a typhoon, even the short distances are dangerous," Laney advised.  
>"We will be waiting here," Howard added. "Good night Lilian!"<br>"Good night," she waved.  
>While they left the cafe' Lilian was, indeed, holding Cam's arm. But as soon as the door shut behind them, she let go of it. Cam had to take her arm and hold it. She had a scared look on her face and he thought it would be better to say something.<br>"Don't fret like that. You said we should keep being friends, but if you keep acting so self conscious it will only make things harder."  
>"I'm sorry," she apologized, turning her gaze to the ground.<br>It only made things worse that, after everything that happened, she was the one suffering.  
>"Don't be sorry... I was the one who kissed you. I should be..."<br>"Cam!"  
>He didn't have time to finish his phrase. She had a pained look on her face and he knew that talking about it only would make things worse. But he already started it and could not stop before putting it all out.<br>"I should be the one to say sorry," he continued, looking into her eyes. "I don't regret kissing you. And I did not mistake you by Laney," and by saying that outloud he realized he started to blush. "I... I just wanted to let you know. So stop acting like that, it only makes me feel bad," he finished, turning his face and covering what he could of it with his free hand.  
>She was back to looking to the ground, but he could see that her face was red. They arrived at the town hall too fast and everything else that Cam wanted to say he couldn't. She signed her name in guest book and ran to the room while waving bye. Maybe she would never let him finish what he wanted to say, but he would wait patiently for the day where he could.<p>

The next day, the first thing Cam would do was to walk to the riverbank. He was almost there when he noticed Lilian coming his way.  
>"Cam!" she called, waving.<br>"Don't run!" he scolded.  
>"Sorry..."<br>For a second there he thought she was talking about running, but then he noticed that it was not about it. She was apologizing for yesterday's night.  
>"Don't be sorry. The more you apologize the more I feel guilty about it."<br>Then, an idea struck on his mind; If he called her to talk maybe they could sort everything out. "_That's what I will do_", he thought, but as most things in life, it was easier said than done. Both of them were in silence and the only thing he could think to talk about was...  
>"You see... I have this friend in the city who is going to marry and his fiancee told him that she wants one of my bouquets for the wedding. I know she likes pink and white flowers, but I can't decide on an accent flower."<br>Lilian pondered a bit before giving an answer, and he got happy that at least she answered.  
>"Gerberas would be good, no?" She answered with a question, as if she wasn't sure about it herself.<br>"Yeah! They would!" He said, happy. "I was thinking about using them, but I was not really sure. Since you also think it would look good, I feel more confident to use them."  
>Then he remembered that he was invited to the wedding. And that he didn't want to go alone. Maybe...<br>"Hey Lilian..."  
>"Yes?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.<br>"Would you like to come with me to their wedding? It will be on an island, but since they're going to go out in honey-moon the same day, we can use the chance to come back to land with them," he invited.  
>"I don't know," she seemed reluctant. "When will it be?"<br>"Probably on the next weekend."  
>"Can I give you an answer later?"<br>"Sure," he told her, relieved. A maybe was always better than a refusal right off the bat. "See you later then?"  
>"Yeah... Later."<br>Cam didn't know if her answer was good or bad, but at least he managed to talk with her normally again. That was something already.

Later that day Dirk came by and Cam finally managed to deliver Philip's letter.  
>"This is is a letter from Lilian's brother, isn't?" Dirk asked, looking at the sender.<br>"Do you know him?" Cam asked, smelling trouble.  
>"No, but since they write a lot to each other I was curious and ended up asking. She really likes him."<br>"Yeah, he seems to be a good person. No wonder she admires him..."  
>"Do YOU know him?" Dirk asked, his eyes wide open and his mouth hanging open.<br>Somehow he ended up talking too much.  
>"Ah... well... I ended up finding him in one of my travels to the city... It was all a coincidence. A big coincidence."<br>"I see," Dirk rubbed his chin. "And why didn't you deliver it yourself?"  
>"I would feel better if she didn't find out that I know her brother."<br>"Suspicious," he said as he put the letter inside his bag and didn't pry any further. "Fine, I won't make questions. My job is to deliver letters. I'll deliver this one, don't worry. I'm going."  
>Everything was going fine. Now, if only he could make Lilian believe in him... Every time he thought about his 'mistake' his lips would long for hers, and he never felt like that about Laney. And he didn't want to kiss Laney to find out if he also would feel like that. His heart was already set in Lilian.<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>It was Saturday and Bluebell would celebrate the Star Gazing Festival. That night, even if Lilian appeared, they would not allow her to participate. Every time Cam thought about it, he would be bored. Lilian really should move to Bluebell. Not just to participate in the festivals, but to be closer to him. Every year the star gazing festival would be held pretty late in the night, everyone would attend and by the end of it, they would go sleep. It was a good chance to socialize with everyone, so at least Cam tried to talk with everyone a bit. And by the time it was over, he would go back to the cafe' with Laney and Howard, who would go talking all the way about how the stars were beautiful and how Konohana shouldn't have something like that. He wondered if, somewhere down the mountain, Lilian would be watching the stars.<p>

That Sunday, after the cooking festival, Lilian ran towards Cam. His heart skipped a beat and he got worried for a second. He tried to calm himself down as to not mess things up again.  
>"Cam! I will go."<br>For a second he wondered what she could be talking about, and then he remembered about Chelsea's bouquet, Vaughn's marriage and his invitation. And he had to ask again to make sure.  
>"You mean you're going with me to the city and to my friend marriage?"<br>"Yes," she smiled. "I will."  
>He gave her a tight hug but released her as quickly as he could. She looked surprised, but not scared. And she smiled instead of running away. Things were finally going back to what they were.<br>"Then you should hurry back to Konohana and get some nice clothes and such. Meet me at Bluebell gates."  
>"Actually," she patted her rucksack. "I have some clothes with me already. I'm ready to go right now if you want."<br>"Great! Let's go then."

That day he went to Grady's Animals earlier than he normally would. Grady got his horse done while Lilian waited for him on her own horse. He wondered what clothes she would use on the wedding, but he was sure she should have something. Then both took the way to the city.  
>They didn't talk much on the way, but Lilian told him a bit about her parents and about Philip, her brother. At least now he knew by her own mouth, which made him feel a bit more comfortable.<br>When they finally arrived to the city their first stop was on Nina's house.  
>"Hey teacher," he greeted.<br>"Hello Cam," she greeted back before looking to Lilian. "And who might you be?"  
>"Lilian," she said merrily as she extended her hand. "Nice to meet you."<br>"This is Nina," Cam said. "She taught me everything I know about flowers."  
>Lilian and Nina were talking for a bit while Cam finished some last touches on the bouquet.<br>"Nina, I'm really sorry," Cam was apologizing as he worked. "But he is my best friend; I would feel bad if I don't go."  
>"It is ok, Cam. One week won't make such a huge difference. Enjoy your voyage. And Lilian, take care of him for me, will you?"<br>"You can count on me Miss Nina."  
>And after waving goodbye they left, now to go to the port, where Vaughn would be waiting.<p>

"We're here!" Cam waved to Vaughn.  
>"Finally! The boat was almost leaving without you," the other said.<br>And as he noticed that Cam was not alone, Vaughn introduced himself.  
>"Cam talks a lot about you."<br>Vaughn looked to Cam and gave a devilish smile. He sure knew what Vaughn wanted to say, but he didn't want him to, so he looked at him with a murderous intent. That was enough to stop Vaughn from doing anything reckless.  
>"I hope you don't mind knowing a lot of new people," Vaughn told the couple. "The island is not that big and there are not that many people, but it is big enough for you to get lost, so don't stay away from me."<br>As the boat parted, Cam noticed that Lilian was looking at the port. Maybe she was hoping to see her brother? If they arrived earlier, maybe she could meet him, but now they would have to wait until night time. And he didn't even know if they would find him there at night.

As they arrived in the island they meet a happy Chelsea waiting.  
>"You should be getting dressed, shouldn't you?" Vaughn asked, kissing her forehead.<br>"But I wanted to wait for you guys," she chirped. "Hey Cam, it's been a while!" She said, giving him a hug.  
>"Yeah, it sure has," he awkwardly returned the hug. "Let me introduce you. This is Lilian," he hesitated for a bit. "My friend."<br>"Nice to meet you Lilian."  
>Chelsea took Lilian's hand and started showing her around. Vaughn looked back to Cam without knowing what to do.<br>"Do you want me to show you around?" He asked.  
>"No, it is ok. Let's get you ready instead."<br>They walked up to a small house where, as Cam would find out later, they sold animals. Vaughn would get dressed in there. And since the marriage would be at noon, it was a good time to start getting dressed. There was also a tanned guy with a purple bandana who came to help.  
>"This guy is my best friend here. His name is Denny."<br>"Hi," Denny greeted.  
>"Is there a place where I could sleep a bit?" Cam asked.<br>"Even if you find a place to sleep, it will be noisy everywhere," Vaughn explained. "Unless you re able to sleep around with a lot of noise."  
>Actually, Cam was not looking for a place for him to sleep, but for Lilian. He knew that she would be tired even if she didn't show it. His only hope was that she would be strong enough to stay awake.<p>

"She slept in my house," Chelsea told them. "Since I'll be changing at Lanna's place, I thought it would be good for her to rest a bit. She looked pretty exhausted."  
>"Thanks Chel, you're an angel."<br>And by saying that Vaughn kissed her forehead. She giggled a bit before turning to Cam.  
>"By the way... Cam, did you bring my bouquet?" She asked, anxious.<br>"Of course I did," he said, grabbing a box from his belongings. "Here it is."  
>"Beautiful!" She said after opening it. "Thank you! Now I should be going, I need to get changed. See you later!<br>As soon as she left Vaughn started to get dressed too. He would use a black three-piece suit while Cam had his white one.  
>"Should I also get ready?" Cam asked.<br>"Sure," Vaughn said as he put on his shirt. "And after you do it would be good to check on Lilian. If she is still sleeping it would be a good idea to wake her up."  
>Cam didn't take too long to get dressed and his hair was easy to comb, so in 30 minutes he was ready.<br>"How do I get to Chelsea's house?" He asked.  
>"Just take the road up," the shop owner started to explain. "It is the only farm in the island, so you won't have much trouble finding it."<br>"Thanks."  
>Vaughn was right. The island was not big, but one that didn't know it could easily get lost if didn't know where to go. The farm was big and there were a bunch of seasonal crops. He still couldn't understand how someone would choose crops over animals. Then he walked the short distance to the house and knocked on the door.<br>"Lilian, it is me, Cam. Are you awake?"  
>For a second his heart raced. What if she was sleeping? He didn't want to be tempted to kiss her while she was sleeping again, or he would not be able to control himself. He was about to knock again when he heard a reply.<br>"Give me a second, I'm almost done."  
>Then again, his feelings crashed. He was relieved that she was awake and almost ready, but he was hoping to see her asleep again. He was still fighting his feelings when the door opened. Lilian was dressed with the dress Howard gave to her on the typhoon day. And just then he noticed that, even if it was pretty simple, the dress was really beautiful.<br>"I was waiting for the right chance to give it back," she started explaining, her face blushing. "But since you invited me to the marriage I asked Howard if it was okay for me to keep it a bit more," she stoped looking to the ground and looked into Cam's eyes, making his heart race. "He didn't mind at all and even said that I could have it if I like it so much."  
>"You're beautiful," he finally managed to say.<br>She blushed even harder as he said that. Then, as if trying to change the subject, she started again.  
>"Do you know where the girls are gathered? I wanted to ask them to help me with my hair..."<br>"Come with me, I'm sure someone can show you the way."  
>And grabbing her hand he lead her to where the guys were gathered.<br>"Hey guys, is there someone who could show Lilian the way to Lanna's house?  
>"I can do that. Follow me lass."<br>Denny was the one to volunteer to bring her there. She gave a worried look to Cam, who reassured her to follow him, which she did. Now they only had to wait until noon for the ceremony to start.

Luckily for them, that day was not as hot as every summer day, which Cam was glad for. They were already on the church on Mystic Islands when the girls started to appear. As soon as Lilian entered the church Cam noticed her, but she didn't see him. Maybe that's because he was without his hat? He didn't know, but he thought it would be better to get to her quickly. He approached her and called her.  
>"Hey Lilian. I m here."<br>She turned around and finally found him.  
>"Cam!" She was surprised. "Where is your hat?" She asked as she walked up to him. "I didn't recognize you without it."<br>"It didn't match my clothes, so I left it at the animals shop. Let's go closer to the altar."  
>And holding her hand they walked to the benches at the front.<br>"Should we sit so close?" she asked. "There must be more people who want to sit in the front."  
>"Don't worry with that," he pressed her hand between his. "There is plenty of space here. Just relax and enjoy the ceremony."<br>Lilian was going to say something when Chelsea entered the church. Everyone had smiles on their faces as she walked slowly to the altar, where Vaughn was waiting. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail with a crown of flowers over it and some small flowers were fixed on her bangs. Her dress was really simple, but it didn't make her any less adorable. As soon as she arrived in the altar, Vaughn kissed her forehead and the priest started the ceremony.

"Congratulations to the newlyweds!" Everyone cheered.  
>A party had started and everyone was having fun, even Lilian and Cam. The people in the island were very hospitable, which made them feel at home. When the waltz started, Cam extended his hand to Lilian.<br>"Dance with me?"  
>"Sure!"<br>Almost all the young couples were dancing to the waltz, but Cam couldn't see them at all. All he could see was Lilian. She noticed his glare and started to avoid eye contact. Then Cam had an idea. He slid his hand from her back to her hips and pulled her closer to him. Their bodies were touching and he could see Lilian's face turning as red as a tomato. She rested her chin on his shoulder and he could hear her whisper.  
>"Cam... too close... I'll end up stepping on your foot."<br>"I don't mind," he said. "Just let me feel you a bit more."  
>He could feel her chest against his, her heat, her smell, her heart racing. Without even noticing, their lips were looking for each other. They were almost kissing when the waltz finished and, as if a spell had been broken, their bodies moved away and they turned to look at Chelsea and Vaughn. They were kissing and everyone was clapping to their happiness. Cam thought that, if the waltz was one second longer, it would be his happiness too.<p>

"I'll throw the bouquet!" Chelsea announced. "Come here girls!"  
>"I want to go Cam."<br>"You don't need a bouquet," he said, refusing to take his arms from around her. "I can make you one any time you want."  
>Lilian pouted.<br>"It is not just any bouquet. It is a bride's bouquet. And I'm going!"  
>She broke out of his arms and joined the group of girls that were trying to get the bouquet. Vaughn approached Cam.<br>"No matter what they say, every girl wants to get the bride's bouquet. Right?"  
>"I don't know what you're talking about," Cam said, puzzled as to why Lilian would go fight for it.<br>"Even your precious Lilian went to try her luck. What would you do if she gets it?"  
>Cam pondered for a bit. He was in love with Lilian, but he was not ready to marry. For sure he was not. And for a second, he wished with all his strength that she could not get the bouquet.<p>

When he woke up they were at the port back in the city. It was late in the night, but he heard some voices. He thought it was Lilian's voice, so he got up to check. He was surprised to see Lilian running towards a man, jumping on his neck as he hugged her and turned her around one, two... three times before landing her again.  
>"Phil! I am so happy to see you!"<br>"Me too!" The young man said with a smile. "I was surprised when I read that you were coming to the city. I waited you here the whole day!"  
>"I'm really sorry," she apologized as she hugged him once again. As she parted she started to explain. "I was invited to a wedding."<br>"Eh...?"  
>Before Philip could ask her whose wedding it was, he saw Cam. No matter what, now Cam was in big trouble. If Philip told her that he and Vaughn were looking for him she would feel suspicious. And the Goddess knew what could happen after that. He had to do something. And fast.<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>"We meet by chance, right?"<br>Philip was giving him a confused look. Cam didn't know if he would cooperate or not, but he had to try.  
>"Yeah, by chance," Philip replied, looking with frowned eyes to Cam. "But you look great Lil!" He changed the subject, as well as his expression softened. "The time was really generous with you," he said, while turning his back to Cam.<br>She laughed and blushed as he said that. And somehow Cam was starting to feel jealous of her brother.  
>"Now that I came to visit you, it is your turn next!" She told him.<br>"I know, I know. But my contract here won't expire until the end of the month. And it is hard to pay you a visit while I have work to do."  
>He messed with her hair, but she didn't seem to get bothered by it. Their bond was really strong. Stronger than the fragile bond Cam shared with her.<br>"Let's go Lilian," Cam said, approaching her. "We have a long way back home."  
>"I'm sorry Phil," she said, her happy expression changing to a sad one.<br>"It is ok," the other said, shuffling her hair again. "You have work to do. Both of us need to work hard," he said with a gentle smile. "Don't get yourself in trouble, ok?"  
>"Unn," she nodded.<br>As they were walking, Philip grabbed Cam's arm, which surprised him.  
>"I don't know what your motives are, but I hate to lie to my sister. I'll let it pass this time, but you better not do anything reckless because I won't cover it for you the next time."<p>

It was Tuesday morning already when Cam and Lilian parted ways; she went back to Konohana while he would go to Bluebell. He wanted to be happy for dancing a waltz with Lilian, but all he could think about was how Philip told him not to mess up with his sister. Something about that guy seemed threatening; he only didn't know what it could be.  
>"Welcome back Cam! How was the wedding ceremony" Howard asked, anxious.<br>"It was really nice," he said as he finished getting changed to work. "Vaughn and Chelsea sure will be a happy couple. Probably the happiest couple I'll ever know."  
>"And did Lilian like it?" Laney asked, curious.<br>"Seems like it. But I suppose she would like it even more if she had gotten the bouquet."  
>"Why don't you make one for her instead? I'm sure she would like it." She replied cheerfully.<br>"I asked her the same thing, but she said she wanted the bride's bouquet," he shrugged.  
>"Of course she would want it," Howard boasted. "The girl that gets it will be the next one to marry. Every girl dreams of getting the bride's bouquet!""<br>"But she doesn't seem to like anyone... right father?" Laney had a confused look on her face.  
>Howard looked right to Cam and smiled.<br>""Who knows, dear? Maybe she found someone she likes and we just don't know it yet," he teased.  
>Laney was puzzled and Cam left before Howard could ask him anything more.<br>As soon as he went out of the cafe' Eileen approached his stall.  
>"Hello Cam. I wanted to buy some flowers."<br>"Just give me a second to open the stall," he asked.  
>That was all he needed: work. He was sure that his daily routine would be perfect to get him back to his normal self again.<p>

It was Laney's birthday, so Cam woke up early that day to get wild flowers in the mountains. He wasn't the best person to cook sweets, not to mention that probably Howard would cook her favorite dish, Cherry Pie. All he could do was give her something he knew she liked: a bouquet.  
>She liked a lot of flowers, but Cam was proud to make her a colorful bouquet every year, always with fresh flowers. However that year there were so few flowers at the foot of the mountain that Cam had to walk all the way to the summit to find a good amount of flowers for the bouquet. As he was going back to Bluebell he noticed Dirk coming his way. The guy seemed to notice him too, as he waved to him and hurried on.<br>"Good to see you Cam," Dirk greeted. "I have a package for you."  
>"For me? Who sent it?" Cam asked, confused.<br>"It is from Lilian. Please sign your name here."  
>Cam signed the papers and Dirk gave him his package.<br>"Are you going to Bluebell, Dirk?"  
>"Yes, I am."<br>"Then I'll come with you."  
>As they finally arrived in Bluebell, Cam said goodbye and went back to the cafe', while Dirk still would have to deliver his letters.<br>The first thing he did was to start working on Laney's bouquet. There were still a bunch of flowers, so he decided to also make a flowers crown. Laney would look gorgeous with it. He was almost done with it when someone knocked on his door.  
>"Cam, may I come in?"<br>It was Laney. Then somehow, his heart rushed and his mind went blank.  
>"Give me a second."<br>He wrapped the bouquet in some nice cambric paper and sighed. It was done.  
>"Come in!" he said, while hiding the bouquet behind him to make her a surprise.<br>"Sorry for intruding..."  
>She was coming in when she tripped on her own feet and Cam hurried to grab her before she fell, his bouquet falling on the ground as he released it to save Laney. Their heads bumped and he lost his balance, falling on the ground with Laney falling over him. When he opened his eyes he faced a blushing Laney looking at him with worry all over her face.<br>"Are you ok?" She murmured.  
>Their faces were too close and Cam had to hold his instincts to not kiss her. What's gotten into him? He never had the urges to kiss anyone before, but ever since he first kissed Lilian he couldn't help to feel like that.<br>"Yes, I am ok... Can you stand?"  
>She was standing already when she saw the bouquet on the ground. Cam noticed it, so he took it from the ground and gave it to her. It was a relief that the bouquet was not damaged by the fall.<br>"Happy birthday Laney."  
>"Thank you!" She took the bouquet from his hands and buried it on her chest, lowering her head to smell it. "It is adorable!"<br>After that, Laney left. Cam went to his bed to take some rest when he noticed the package he got from Dirk earlier that day. It would be a good idea to open it now. He was surprised with what he found inside it when he opened it. It was a bento box with tom yum goong inside. His favorite dish. How did Lilian get her hands on it? Anyway, he decided to heat it up and eat. He was so focused on Laney's bouquet that he forgot to eat the whole day, so a tom yum goong would be nice to have.

It was one week after Laney's birthday and Cam didn't see Lilian at all. To make things worse, Howard described her as "she could faint at any second" after seeing her on the cooking festival some days ago. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Rose coming to the cafe' at all.  
>"Good morning Howard."<br>"Good morning Rose! It is so unusual for you to come here. How can I help you?"  
>"Lilian is moving to Bluebell and Rutger asked me if I could check on the house. Since it's been closed for so long, I was wondering if it wouldn't need some cleaning, and I was wondering if you could help me with it."<br>"Sure, sure! I'll ask Laney to take care of the cafe' , just give me a second."  
>Howard went upstairs to call for Laney. They were already back downstairs when Cam finally paid attention to what they just said.<br>"Let's go Rose."  
>Cam was going to call for them when Laney touched his arm.<br>"I know it is your day off and all but... Could you help me around the cafe' today, Cam?"  
>In the end, he couldn't refuse her. It was ok though, he could pay her a visit tomorrow.<p>

At the end of the day Howard came back to the cafe'. He was exhausted, but happy that Lilian was moving.  
>"Now we can trade gossip! Isn't it wonderful?"<br>"Yes, it is. She will spend more time with us too." Laney, that was starting to be friendly towards Lilian, also liked the idea. "It would be good if she could befriend Georgia too. I think she needs more friends."  
>"Lilian doesn t need more friends," Cam replied bitterly.<br>"I'm not talking about Lilian, but about Georgia. What's gotten into you?" Laney was confused and a bit angry.  
>"Nothing. I think I will go sleep now, I am tired."<br>"Good night Cam!"  
>Howard was so happy that he didn't hear when Cam slammed the door behind him after going into his room.<p>

The last day of the season came in a flash. It was early in the morning when Cam woke up and went straight to Bluebell's farm. Getting there he was surprised to find a puzzled Ash by the door.  
>"Hey Ash!"<br>"Cam! Nice to see you. What are you doing here?"  
>"I came to welcome Lilian to town," Cam said. "What about you?"<br>"Same," his voice was unsure and, as he took off his hat, he scratched his head. "Too bad, seems like she isn't home."  
>"But it is so early in the morning. Where could she have gone?" Cam was getting as confused as Ash, but what bothered him more was not the fact that she was not home, but the fact that Ash was also there.<br>"Maybe she forgot something in Konohana and went back there to get it back?" Ash seemed disappointed. "I will come back later. You should do the same," he advised, "she might take a while to come back."  
>"Probably."<p>

It was almost midday when Cam went to his usual resting spot and found the cat that he helped some time ago. He tried to call it but the cat just refused to come near him. He chased it, but the cat kept fleeing from him. When the cat climbed a tree Cam thought it was about time for him to give up on his chase, but then, unexpectedly, the cat came down the tree. Cam opened his arms, expecting the cat to jump on them, but to his surprise, the cat jumped from his arms to the ground and from the ground to someone else arms. He turned around to see who was it and found Lilian feeding it with a small fish.  
>"So this was the cat you asked fishes for?" She asked smiling.<br>"Yes," he replied while approaching her slowly.  
>The cat was not as small as the last time Cam saw it and somehow it looked pretty attached to Lilian.<br>"It is ok, she won't bite you."  
>"It is a she...?" Cam was confused. He loved cats, but since he never had one, he didn't know how to distinguish them.<br>"We had some small animals at my house. I had to learn how to distinguish them," she said while stroking the cat's head. "I think I should adopt this one... What do you think?"  
>"I'm sure it would like to have a house," he reassured her while stroking the cat's belly. It looked like it was enjoying it.<br>"You look troubled Cam... what is the matter?"  
>"It is just," he sighed, "business is not being very good lately. I think I am not a very good salesman," he lied.<br>Summer was always a bad season for his business, but that was not what was bothering, neither his inability to deal with his clients. What bothered him was the reason she was not home earlier that day.  
>"Should I help you with that?" She offered.<br>"How could you help me?" He asked, a bit curious.  
>"My family would often visit this bazaar on a small town... I learnt a trick or two by watching them. We could try it on your stall."<br>It was his day off and the last day of summer, but he thought it would not hurt to give it a try. Even more if this would mean that he could spend a bit more of time with Lilian.

She rang the bell with all her might. It was impressive that a small bell like that could make so much noise.  
>"Cam!" She pouted, "Don't just stand there, call the customers!"<br>"Ah... ok," he was confused and didn't know what to do, but he had to try something. "Come one, come all to Cam's flowers stand!"  
>He looked at her and noticed that she was trying her best not to laugh.<br>"Pffft... That was awful..." She finally gave in and laughed wholeheartedly.  
>"I told you it would not work... We should quit it right now," he gave up.<br>"No," she had that determined look on her face again. "We can do it Cam."  
>Somehow he felt that no matter what, she would not stop until they sold everything that he had. It would take some time, but she reassured him that she would be beside him all the time. She went to the front of the stall and started ringing the bell again while Cam kept on the back, calling everyone. The first person to approach them was Rutger.<br>"What is the big ruckus?"  
>"Ah... Rutger... I..."<br>Cam started to stumble on his own words.  
>Rutger noticed Lilian and she returned a smile to him. Then he looked at Cam's stall and laughed.<br>"I see, I see... Ever since you were a kid you were never good at expressing yourself Cam. But nowadays you're doing really fine. Maybe it is because of Lilian?"  
>The young couple looked at each other and Cam replied with a smile on his face.<br>"If you say so mayor, then it must be true."  
>"Well, since I am already here, let me buy a red rose for Rose. She just loves those flowers."<br>"Here you go mayor."  
>"Ah, it is so good to be young and in love," Rutger smirked.<br>"Mayor! It is not like that!" Cam freaked out.  
>"Ho ho... if you say so, Cam. If you say so," Rutger said while leaving.<br>"Lilian!" Cam hold her arm and looked at her eyes, as if he was begging. "Please don't misunderstand! The mayor..."  
>"Cam," she touched his lips, interrupting his speech, "it is ok. You don't need to explain."<br>Cam wanted to say that the mayor was mistaken. He wanted to let her know that if he really loved her, he would tell her. But now that she interrupted him and was back to ringing her bell he lost his chance. And the Harvest Goddess knew what was going on her mind now.

After they sold all the flowers Cam felt more tired than his usual. All his last summer flowers were all sold, which was incredible.  
>"Lilian," he started, "I should apologize for what the mayor said."<br>Lilian had her back to him, so he didn't even know if she was listening. He was about to go on talking when she turned to him, her face was visibly red from the sun and sweat was dripping from her forehead.  
>"It is ok, Cam. I told you that I don't mind it. I'm glad I could help you."<br>She was putting her bell back inside her rucksack when he had the idea.  
>"You look tired, why don't we eat something at the cafe'? My treat!" His voice was full of excitement.<br>She returned a smile to him and agreed.

"Come back later dear!" Howard said as he waved goodbye to her.  
>"I'll accompany you to your house," Cam said, walking beside her.<br>"Thank you," she smiled.  
>It was already past 6 PM and they were walking slowly. Cam couldn't think about anything to say, so he started to watch her. She was some steps in front of him, so he could see her back. She was slender and her hair was longer than when she first moved. Somehow, his eyes got attracted to her hands. Her hands and fingers were small and he wondered how she managed to plant anything with those hands, since the tools for farming were way heavier than his small gardening tools. They were close to Ash's farm when he noticed she stopped and looked to him.<br>"You can go back now, Cam.," She said with a serious face. "I have to pay a visit to Ash."  
>"Why?" He asked, surprised and a bit angry.<br>"Because from today on we will be neighbors," she said that as if it was already an answer. Since Cam didn't seem to understand, she kept going. "I learnt at Konohana that you give gifts to your new neighbors when you move, so that you can have a good relationship. I'm doing that now."  
>"Fine, do as you please," he said, bothered. And without thinking, he turned on his feet and started his way back to the cafe'. He was not very far when he heard Ash's voice. And by the sound of it, he was pretty happy to see her. But that didn't matter at all. "<em>Tomorrow will be a better day<em>", was what he thought. He didn't know what expected him.


	13. Chapter 13

After reading this chapter, if you please, read My Kids for a hard day in Howard's life.

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>Finally, it was the first day of fall. Cam was anxious since it was his birthday and could barely remember everything that happened the day before. It was a Saturday, so he would have to work, but probably Howard would make a small party at night for him, as he always did. And he would get a gift from Laney and Ash, his closest friends. What he didn't know was if he should or not expect to get something from Lilian. When the thought crossed his mind he noticed that he didn't have her birthday marked on his calendar. Maybe Howard had it, since they were so close. It would not hurt to give it a look. He left his room and went upstairs to Howard's room and knocked on the door.<br>"Come on in!" His voice was full of joy.  
>"Excuse me Howard..."<br>"Oh! Cam dear! Good morning!"  
>Howard gave Cam a tight hug that almost choked him. He could use make up and earrings but his strong and big body could not deceive anyone that he was, indeed a man.<br>"Happy birthday dear. Do not do anything reckless today, do you hear me?"  
>"Yes, Howard," he said, looking at the floor. He could never get used to that pink carpet. "I wanted to ask you something."<br>"What is it?" Howard looked at him intrigued.  
>"Do you know when Lilian's birthday is?"<br>"Hmm..." He walked up to his shelf and started to browse his calendar. "I think I didn't mark it here. But I remember that she mentioned something about it being on fall. Why do you ask?"  
>Cam's heart skipped a beat. Lilian's birthday was also on fall, maybe even on the same day as his. He had to know the exact day.<br>"Thanks Howard. I'll ask her myself."  
>"Cam! She won't..."<br>Before Howard could finish his sentence, Cam had already left his room.

Cam was near Jessica's Animals when he saw Ash leaving the house. He thought that maybe he could turn around and go back but Ash saw him first. He waved and ran towards Cam with a smile that made him feel guilty.  
>"Hey man! I wanted to give this to you at your party, but since you're already here... Happy birthday!"<br>Ash took a small package from his belongings and passed it to him. Cam started to open it when Ash stopped him.  
>"Please, open it later," he demanded with a serious face.<br>"Ok," Cam didn't know what's gotten into him, but he decided to do as he asked.  
>Cam started walking again towards Bluebell's farm when Ash called to him.<br>"It's useless."  
>He turned to see his friend with a confused look on his face, and that's when Ash told him.<br>"She's at Konohana. Seems like someone she knows moved to the farm there and she is paying a visit."  
>"Someone she knows?"<br>Cam had a bad feeling about it. He started to wish that it was just some random friend, but there was something unsettled on his heart.

It was past midday already when Lilian came riding her horse to his stall. She looked at his seeds and bought a whole bunch of Nadeshikos. Bluebell had some space for crops, but the amount of seeds she bought was way more than what she would need for it. She paid them all and ran to Eileen's house. He watched as they left the house and mounted on the horse. Lilian was ready to leave when he decided to call up to her.  
>"Hey Lilian! I need to talk with you," he asked.<br>"Sorry Cam! I'm too busy right now. I'll talk to you later," and with a word, the horse shot towards Bluebell entrance.  
>"What's wrong with her...?" He pouted.<br>"It is the first day of the month. Probably she has lots of things to do."  
>Surprised, Cam looked to his side just to find Laney looking at him with a gentle smile on her face.<br>"You're worried with her, aren't you?" She giggled.  
>"Not really," he wanted to believe in his own words. "She can do whatever she wants, it is none of my business."<br>"You're being harsh, Cam," Laney expression changed from a gentle to one of disapproval in a second. "And you should be a bit more honest with your feelings."  
>Before he could answer Laney turned her back and walked back to the cafe'.<br>"Geez... What's wrong with those girls today?" He wondered.

That night, when the party started, Cam was sulking. Lilian didn't come back at all the whole day and they made a cake for his birthday, which he hated. Other than Ash and Laney, who would always come to his party, Grady and Georgia were also there. To his surprise, even Nina was there. But Lilian was nowhere to be found.  
>"Ok, Cam dear, it is time to open your gifts!" Howard exulted.<br>"Open mine first, Cam!" Ash asked.  
>Cam did as he asked and opened it first. And in there he found new gardening tools.<br>"Thanks Ash! Those will be helpful! Next one will be Laney's."  
>He was opening it when the front door bell rang. Howard noticed it and went there to open the door.<br>"Thanks Laney!" Cam said as he opened her gift and found an ornate vase in there.  
>"I didn't know what you would like Cam, so as my gift I'll let you use your pony for free the whole month. Just let me know beforehand," Grady said.<br>"Thank you Grady."  
>"I am like my father, but I tried to get you a small gift. Hope you like it!" Georgia said, handing him a small package.<br>"Thank you Georgia," he thanked her as he opened it and found a bunch of fall tea leaves. "Where did you get those?"  
>"Err..." Georgia was looking at the ground, all fidgety, as if he was asking her in marriage or something. "You see, we got it from a client, but... me and my father are not fans of tea, so..."<br>"It is ok! I don't mind it at all," he reassured her. "I really like tea."  
>"Now it is mine."<br>Nina approached him and handed him a flat gift box. As he opened it he found her notebook with all the flower meanings and some useful information about flowers.  
>"But teacher," he started. He was happy, but confused. "Those are your important notes. I couldn't take them."<br>"You not only can but must," she smiled. "I've already memorized them all, so it will be more useful for you."  
>"Thank you!" He said as he hugged her tightly.<br>Just when he thought he was done with the gifts, he heard a familiar voice.  
>"Here is mine, Cam. Hope you like it."<br>His heart skipped a beat and, as he turned, his eyes meet with Lilian's. She had a light blue skirt on with dark blue knee socks, a white shirt under a brown half-sleeve jacket and matching cyan sneakers and headband. On her hands, a package that was very familiar to him. When he took it from her, their hands touched, and both of them blushed. As he opened it he found a bento box. He didn't need to open it to know what had inside, so he looked up to her to thank her. Just then he noticed that she was not alone. There, beside her, he saw the only person he didn't want to see: Philip  
>"I thought that I should give you something too, since it is your birthday and I am here. It is nothing big. And don't get used to it," he retorted.<br>"Don't worry, I won't," Cam muttered.  
>To his surprise, Philip gave him a herb mix. <em>"It's not that bad<em>", he thought, and he put it with all the other gifts.  
>"So, let's eat everybody!" Howard cheered.<br>Cam was looking at Lilian from time to time and he noticed how happy she would be around Philip. If they weren't brothers he sure would think that there was something else going on between them. He was lost in his thoughts when Ash approached him.  
>"So, who is the guy?" Ash asked him.<br>"His name is Philip. He is Lilian's brother," he said.  
>"So, she also has a brother? I should go talk to him them. Maybe we could be friends," Ash said cheerfully.<br>"Ash...!" Cam tried to stop him, but Ash was faster.

Everyone left already when Cam started to put his gifts in place. His teacher's notes and Philip's herbs would go to his workstation, Ash's gardening tools and Laney's vase would go to his stall and he gave Georgia's tea leaves to Howard since he knew how to turn tea leaves into tea cans. The last gift was Lilian's bento box. As the last one, it had tom yum goong and he wondered how she got it. Deep inside, he didn't care at all. All he could think about is that it was tom yum goong. And that it came from Lilian. That night, after eating the soup, he was sure he would have a really good night.

Suddenly, he was running as if his life depended on it. He ran through a small earthy road surrounded by trees and bushes. Then he finally saw her. It was as if she was waiting for him, but as soon as she saw him, she started to run away from him. He chased her. Her long hair was floating on the air as she ran and he was mesmerized. He ran faster so he could get to her. He had finally get a hold of her arm when he stumbled, falling with her on the ground. He was over her and he could feel her body on his own, and he liked the feeling. He was lifting his body as to see her face. And as they looked into each other's eyes, they smiled. Their heads were getting close. His heart was thumping like crazy. Their lips were almost touching...  
>"CAM!"<br>He woke up, surprised. The person screaming his name was Howard and, for a second, he had to hold himself to not scream back in frustration.  
>"What is it Howard? I was sleeping, you know," he said bitterly<br>"You asked me to wake you up last night before you went to sleep. And if you don't wake up now you'll get late to open your stall," Howard said, happily.  
>For a second, Cam remembered his dream. But for some reason he couldn't remember whose face it was. Was it Laney? Was it Lilian? Or was it someone else? Now that he was awake, he had no other choice than to go work.<p>

That day, Lilian came early. She gave him lavender and stood by his side for some seconds, their hands almost touching on the stall. That's when Cam had an idea.  
>"Hey Lilian, since you always come here, let me try something."<br>He walked up to his cart and started to search for something. Lilian looked at him, curious.  
>"Cam? What are you doing?" She asked.<br>"I am looking for a flower that fits the day. This one should do," he said, bringing her a flower in one of his vases. "Today is apple blossoms. They mean regret. Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. If you put things off, you might end up regretting it," he said firmly.  
>Lilian was amazed. Her eyes were shining and, for a second, she looked at the ground and blushed, as if something passed by her mind. It made him curious and he thought about asking, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Lilian looked up to him. Their eyes meet and she finally talked.<br>"Cam, could you give me a kiss?"  
>"A kiss?" He bewildered<br>"Ah," she stepped back. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked it. I'm sorry."  
>As she turned around to go away he grabbed her arm.<br>"I didn't give you an answer," he whispered, face as red as a tomato.  
>She closed her eyes and he pulled her body closer. He could see that she was nervous, so he kissed her forehead. As soon as he did, she opened her eyes.<br>"I hope you don't mind it like that," he muttered.  
>"No... it is ok," was what she said, but she was visibly disappointed. Of course she wanted something more than a kiss on her forehead. "I'll go back to work now. Thanks for the flower horoscope and... for the kiss."<br>She ran away back to her farm and Cam felt bad for it. He wanted to kiss her, but for some reason that he didn't know, he couldn't. And now Lilian was hurt.


	14. Chapter 14

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>In the end, Lilian's flower horoscope would be better for Cam himself. It was late that night and he was preparing to go to the city when his teacher knocked on the door and came in. She sat down on his bed and started to talk with a serious tone.<br>"We need to talk Cam. Sit down."  
>It was unusual for Cam to see her so serious, so he did as she said.<br>"You know," she started. "I thought I raised you pretty well. You're like my own son, you know that?"  
>He was looking at the ground but he nodded and she kept going.<br>"But today I noticed that there are some things you will never tell me unless I ask you," she stopped talking for some time as if letting Cam absorb everything she already said before going on. "So, Cam," he looked at her when she called his name, "is there anyone that you like?"  
>"Why are you asking me that, teacher?" Cam was confused.<br>"Because I noticed the girls at your birthday party. All of them are really beautiful and really nice. I think it is hard for you to not have feelings for someone."  
>She answered his question as if it was common sense to be in love when there are cute girls around. Cam could not tell her that she was wrong, but he didn't want to tell her who the girl he liked was.<br>"There is a girl," he pondered each and every word as if he was stepping on a mine camp, "that I might like, but she is too much for me."  
>"What do you mean with that?" Now it was Nina's turn to be confused.<br>"I don't understand her," he took off his hat and was resting his forehead on his hands. "And I always get jealous when she is around other guys." Then, Philip came to his mind, and he sighed. "Even if the guy does not have any chance with her."  
>"Well, Cam," Nina smiled again. "Why don't you talk with the girl about your feelings? Maybe she does not know how you feel about her."<br>"Impossible," he said, so sure about it that by nina's reaction he knew he would have to explain more. "We already... kissed..."  
>He could feel his head heating up and his hands started to sweat. Nina laughed.<br>"Are you telling me that you already kissed her?"  
>"Yes..."<br>"Maybe your kiss was not enough to reassure your feelings for her."  
>Cam could see that Nina was enjoying each and every little thing that Cam said. It was like she was a feminine version of Howard and their conversation was the most precious of the gossips.<br>"Teacher, please..."  
>"Oh, c'mon Cam," she pouted. "I know what you're thinking! I'm not like Howard. I won't meddle with your love life," she said as she gently grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to face her. "I just want you to be happy!"<br>"Thank you."  
>She hugged him and patted his head. It made him feel like when he was a kid. Nina would always pat his head and hug him when he was feeling sad and it would be extremely effective. He hugged her back and both stayed like that for a few minutes.<br>"Now, undo your bags."  
>"Why? I should get you back to the city," Cam struggled.<br>"You're not coming with me to the city today."  
>"But Vaughn will be waiting for me," he argued.<br>"Vaughn already knows you won't go."  
>"But how will you go back to the city then?" He asked, thinking that he had the upper hand.<br>Nina could not mount horses, so she would need a carriage. Even so, she would need someone to ride the horses.  
>"Do not worry. There is a young man that will bring me back to the city."<br>"But teacher," he tried to complain.  
>"Cam," Nina raised her voice, forcing him to stop. "Please don't argue. I know what I am doing."<br>Cam didn't have a choice, but there was one thing bugging him.  
>"Can I at least ask who is going to bring you to the city?" He asked.<br>"Philip will."  
>Once again, Cam felt beat up by Philip. And this feeling was starting to bother him.<p>

It was Thursday again and Cam, Laney and Howard were awake and eating breakfast when someone knocked the door. Howard rushed to open it, wondering who it could be so early.  
>"Good morning Howard!" It was Rutger.<br>"Good morning mayor! You sure are up early today! Come on in! Have some breakfast with us!" Howard invited.  
>"I would love to, but Rose is waiting for me. I just came to introduce you to Mikhail," and coming from behind Rutger a silver haired guy with glasses and a big coat appeared. He reached Howard that greeted him cheerfully. "He will be playing on the Music Festival with Helena."<br>Helena was a pianist that would always come to Bluebell to play on the music festivals. Usually she would play accompanied by another instrument, but so far there were never someone that would come more than once, so Cam didn't pay that much attention to the musician in front of him. He just greeted him out of courtesy and, after getting his backpack and biting his half eaten toast, he went to the mountains.

Cam was almost on Bluebell entrance when he decided to pay a visit to Lilian. He was already on the farm grounds when he noticed Philip leaning on one of the fences while Lilian was shearing her sheep. He was shocked that the guy was not helping Lilian in any way. He had already decided to have a talk with Philip about it when he saw the guy jumping over the fence and running towards Lilian, that was holding her hand. He tore a piece of his own shirt and wrapped her hand on it.  
>"Where is your horse?" Philip asked<br>"It is on the barn," she said. The piece of cloth was now getting stained by her blood.  
>"OK, keep pressing your hand to stanch the blood."<br>Cam decided that it was finally time for him to show himself and see if he could be of any help.  
>"Hey, what's going on here?" He asked, as if he just arrived.<br>"Lilian cut herself while shearing her sheep. I'm bringing her to the doctors in Konohana."  
>As Philip said that he took Lilian on his arms to get her to the horse. That's when Cam noticed that she blushed. Philip already mounted the horse after Lilian when he turned to Cam and said.<br>"If you can do us a favor, please explain things to Ash and ask him if he could give us a hand. I'm counting on you."  
>And after that, he went towards the mountain. Cam thought he could help Lilian again as he did when she fainted on the river, but as soon as he saw Lilian's clips with her blood he decided that it would be better to ask help.<p>

"I can't believe she was so careless! Do you know if she at least brushed them?"  
>"I'm not sure..."<br>It was afternoon already when Ash finished shearing Lilian's sheep. Now he was washing her clips on a small waterspout on the farm. Cam couldn't say if Ash was more worried with Lilian or if he was angry for not knowing what she already did or not.  
>"Help me up with the chickens," he asked while handling one of them to Cam before getting another one himself.<br>Lucky for them, Lilian didn't have that many animals, just two chickens, one sheep and one cow. Ash noticed that the cow had already been milked, so he just brushed it just in case.  
>"And what are we going to do with the products?" Cam asked<br>"We will leave it on her storage. And I'll write a note. Do you have anything to write?"  
>"I think I do," Cam rummaged through his belongings until he found a pen. "Here it is."<br>"Nice."  
>Ash took a piece of paper from one of his pockets and wrote with big letters, "PRODUCTS ON STORAGE". After writing that he passed it under the door to her house and started walking back to his ranch.<br>"That's all?" Cam asked again.  
>"What more can we do?" Ash muttered.<br>"We could pay her a visit or something..."  
>"And go all the way to Konohana?" Ash started to yell. "At this time? No, thanks! I have work to do, so excuse me."<br>They were almost out of the farm when they noticed Lilian coming back on her horse with bandages on her left hand.  
>"Lilian!" Both of them shouted her name and ran to her side.<br>"Are you okay?" Ash asked first  
>"Where is your brother?" Cam followed. "Wasn't him with you?"<br>"You need to rest, let me help you," Ash said that while getting the horse reins. It was hard to believe that, not long ago, he was complaining about having work to do the next day.  
>Cam and Ash accompanied her to her house. Ash helped her to dismount and Cam took her horse to the barn. He went back to her house and there he found Lilian lying on her bed already while Ash caressed her hair.<br>"Does it hurt?" Ash asked  
>"No. They gave me antibiotics. I should be fine for the time being."<br>"If you need help, you can call me," he said, all proud.  
>"Thanks," she said with a smile. "But don't need to worry. Philip said he will come help me after he finishes watering his crops. And I'm a right handed person; this won't stop me from doing my chores."<br>Her voice was calm and paused. Cam walked up to them and poked Ash, who turned to him.  
>"We should get going. You have to work tomorrow, remember?" He retorted.<br>Ash's face was red as a tomato and Cam knew it was not only from blushing. Ash kissed her cheek and went to the door. Cam looked at her and her face was all red. He didn't know if it was from Ash's kiss or what, but he didn't want to lose her. Then he leaned and kissed her forehead. This time she smiled to him and said good night. He left her house and closed the door as he did.

The next day Cam was surprised to see a moody Ash at Lilian's farm entrance. He looked to where he was staring and saw Philip brushing the cow as he talked with Lilian.  
>"He is really lucky for having Lilian all to himself," he pouted. "And I thought that if I came early enough I would be able to help her instead of him."<br>"Why don't you come to the mountain with me? If you're done with your work, that is," Cam suggested.  
>Ash raised an eyebrow and thought for a second, then turned around and put his arm around Cam's shoulder.<br>"Let's go my friend. Let's go," he replied bitterly

They were already out of town when they noticed the silver haired guy lying on the small island in the middle of the shallow water. He didn't have his coat on and seemed to be sleeping.  
>"Should we wake him up?" Ash asked while grabbing a branch.<br>"What are you doing!?" Cam yelled  
>"If he sleeps there he might get a cold," was what he said, but his devilish smile could not fool Cam.<br>"Leave him alone!" Cam said while pushing his friend away from the guy.  
>Cam thought that it was impressive that the guy didn't wake up at all with all the ruckus that they were making.<p>

It was afternoon already when Cam and Ash were going down the mountain. "I have to get the animals back to the barn", was what Ash said. They were almost back in Bluebell when Cam saw Lilian sitting by the silver haired guy's side. And, impressively enough, he was still lying on the same island, on the same position.  
>"Ash, I'll stay here. See you later."<br>"Yeah, yeah. Later," the other said while hurrying back, without even noticing Lilian or Mikhail at all.  
>Cam approached them and noticed Lilian's curious face while looking at the guy.<br>"Is he dead?" He asked jokingly  
>Lilian looked up to him, concerned.<br>"No, he's breathing. But he's been like that the whole time."  
>"Did you try to wake him up?" He asked, now being more serious.<br>"I did, but he didn't reply at all. I even shook him."  
>And as she said that, she shook him with all her might. He made some loud noise as if he was irritated and finally opened his eyes. Both Cam and Lilian sighed in relief.<br>"Don't scare us like that!" She said  
>"I'm sorry," he said sheepishly. He seemed half-sleep yet. "But this place is so relaxing that I couldn't help it," he finished, while stretching.<br>Cam noticed that Lilian was trying really hard not to laugh. That's when they noticed the cat that Cam and Lilian were feeding for some time already.  
>"There she is! Come here Nora!" She said while whistling.<br>Somehow, the cat answered her calling and jumped on her arms. Cam and Mikhail were impressed.  
>"Seems like you're really loved by the animals, lady."<br>"You can call me Lilian. Or Lil, for shortsm," she said while reaching her hand, which he took.  
>"Lil then... Nice to meet you Lil."<br>Cam was speechless. Lilian never gave him the choice to call her by a nickname. But she did for this guy that she barely knew. He tried his best not to lose his composure, but that was really bothering him.  
>"I thought you already adopted this cat, Lilian," Cam started to talk, as if he was breaking a spell between the other two.<br>"She refuses to live with me. I brought her to my home lots of times, but she just comes back here before I know it," she smiled. "Maybe she is not that used to me yet."  
>"But she comes to you when you call her. And you even named her," Cam tried to cheer her up.<br>"Try this," and as Mikhail spoke, he gave Lilian a small rattle. "Cats are smart creatures. Maybe she is at your farm and you just don't know where."  
>"Thanks, I'll try it out," Lilian said while taking off her headband and using it to tie the rattle on Nora. "Done. Should we go back? It's getting late," she suggested.<br>Lilian was trying to figure out how to get up without using her left hand when Cam hold both her arms and lift her up.  
>"Up we go," he said, smiling. She smiled back and the three of them went back to Bluebell.<p>

That Monday Cam was eager to talk with Vaughn. A lot of things had happened and he didn't have a chance to talk with Vaughn about them at all. He knocked on the door until someone opened it. But it was not Vaughn.  
>"Oh! Hi Cam! What a surprise!"<br>It was Chelsea. She was as cute as always and Cam couldn't help to think how lucky Vaughn was to marry her. And as he thought about it he started to notice his awareness of the opposite sex.  
>"Hi Chel. I need to talk with Vaughn. Is he still sleeping?"<br>"No, come in. He is watching some TV. Feel at home," she replied while taking his beret and putting it on some hooks they had on the wall. Cam could notice that Vaughn's hat was also hanging in one of those hooks, which impressed him. Vaughn would always be in a bad mood without his hat.  
>"Hey Cam! Sit down. You didn't come the last week so I thought you were too busy to pay a visit to a friend," he joked.<br>"As if! -Cam said while sitting on the sofa. "Nina went to Bluebell to my birthday party and didn't let me bring her back."  
>"But then who did?"<br>"Philip did."  
>Vaughn jumped from the sofa when he heard it. His mouth was open and his eyes wide open. It was obvious that he was surprised. Cam thought that it couldn't get worse, so he kept telling Vaughn about how Lilian moved to Bluebell and how he was happy with it until he found out that Philip would be living in Konohana. He also told him about the kiss on her forehead and about the silver-haired violinist that came to Bluebell for the music festival and how Lilian got attached too fast to him.<br>"I just don't know what I am supposed to do," Cam said while resting his head on his hands.  
>Vaughn was thinking when Chelsea came to the room with a breakfast tray. It had some fresh apple juice, coffee, some cookies and toasts and grape jam.<br>"Let me help you with the tray dear," Vaughn took the tray from her hands and put it in the coffee table while Chelsea sat beside Cam.  
>"Cam," Chelsea started, a bit unsure. "I was listening to the whole conversation and... Would you like to listen to my opinion about it?" She kindly asked.<br>"Sure Chel."  
>"Maybe she just wants to give you some space?" She pondered before continuing. "Probably she does not want to get hurt or to hurt you either, and putting up some distance is the only way she found to do it?"<br>Vaughn sat on the sofa's arm and hugged Chelsea and she smiled as he did that.  
>"Chel is right, Cam" Vaughn added. "She has reasons to be scared of you."<br>"Scared!?" Cam couldn't believe in it  
>"She may be thinking that you rejected her," Chelsea said. "I know that I would."<br>They started to eat while talking about Cam and his love life. To his surprise, Chelsea was of big help with her insight about how a woman would feel.  
>"Should we tell him, Chel?" Vaughn suggested.<br>"You tell him, then." She smiled.  
>"Tell me what?" Cam was curious.<br>"We are going to have a baby," Vaughn proudly answered.  
>"Congratulations!" Cam hugged Vaughn and kissed Chelsea's cheek. "I'm sure you two will be great parents."<br>Both of them laughed and Cam had the slight feeling that even Vaughn was more cheerful than he usually would be. He spend the whole day with Vaughn and Chelsea and even took his usual afternoon nap in there before taking his way back to Bluebell. And on his way back he started to think about how wonderful it would be if he also could have a baby. He was not very good with children, but maybe if it was his own, he could handle it better. Before he realized, the first sun rays started to shine. And he was back to Bluebell.


	15. Chapter 15

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>The first thing Cam did that day was to go visit Lilian. He was sure that being there so early in the morning he would find her. He was in front of her door, his hands sweating, his heart rushing, his face getting hot. For a second he thought about turning back, but it was too late to turn back now, so he knocked. There was no answer from the other side. He left out a deep sigh and turned his back, when he heard a rattle. It came from her roof, so when he looked at it he saw Nora.<br>"Come here Nora," he called, without really believing that she would come.  
>To his surprise, she jumped from the roof to his arms. The impact made him stumble and fall on the ground. But he was happy, because Nora didn't flee from him. He was caressing her head when he noticed the door opening. And without knowing the reason himself, he looked to the ground instead of meeting Lilian's eyes.<br>"Good morning Cam. It's a surprise to see you here so early in the morning," she said while stretching.  
>She extended her hand to help him to rise from the ground. For a second he looked at it, without knowing if he should take it.<br>"C'mon, it is my good hand. See?" She said while showing him her left hand with the bandages.  
>When he took her hand Nora jumped to the ground, watching him carefully.<br>"And good morning to you too, Nora," she said while caressing it. "Want to eat?"  
>As she said it she crouched to catch Nora and looked straight into Cam's eyes. She seemed more confident than the last times he saw her and that relieved him. She was holding her door open when she turned.<br>"Won't you come?"  
>"Excuse me?" He asked, confused.<br>"I asked you if you want to eat. Since you're here already, might as well eat something."  
>"Ah, I am not sure if I should..."<br>He was feeling unsure about going in or not when she came back to where he was, took his hand and pulled it.  
>"Come on! I'm not as good as Howard, but I'm proud of my food!" She laughed.<br>And as she did he knew he was defeated, so he just tied the horse to a fence and went inside her house.

One would think that a girl house would be full of cute things all over, but Lilian's house was completely plain. For a second he wondered if she left her things in Konohana, which made him think about Philip. Lilian noticed his interest on her house.  
>"It's pretty plain, right? I didn't have the time or the chance to buy new things," she said, while putting some pet food on a big plate.<br>"Why is it so big if you only have one cat?" He asked without really thinking.  
>"I think it is for later. I can buy more pets, I just don't want to. I have so few animals anyway..."<br>As she said that she walked back two steps and watched Nora eating. Cam approached her to watch it too.  
>"You don't expect us to eat pet food, right?" He joked.<br>"Of course, not. Sit down; it will be done in no time at all."  
>He watched her while she prepared a fried egg and heated some milk.<br>"Have you ever drink milk tea?" She asked  
>"Milk tea? I don't believe so..."<br>"Then go sit down, I'll finish in a second," she demanded  
>As he approached the table he noticed her calendar, so he decided to sneak a peek. There was a small stick on the 20th and there was written "my birthday". He was getting happy for finally finding it out when he noticed another day marked on her calendar. It was the 29th and it was written "Phil's birthday". The three of them celebrated their birthdays in the same season. Somehow it felt weird to know it. He wanted to see more when he heard Lilian calling him to eat.<br>"Don't peek at my things! That's rude!" She scolded.  
>"I'm sorry. Thank you for the food."<br>Cam was impressed by the milk tea. He really liked tea, but he didn't know that adding it to milk would work too.  
>"This is delicious!" He exclaimed.<br>She laughed. Everything was so peaceful that he even forgot all the troubles between them. It was almost as if they were married. The thought invaded his mind for a second and he looked at her. Maybe it could happen someday.

"I said I can do it alone!" she argued.  
>"No, I insist!" He bossed while taking her brush from her hands. "If you want to do something, milk it. I don't think I could do it even if I wanted to."<br>She giggled. When they finally finished bringing the animals out to the pasture they were impressed to see the chicken outside.  
>"Did I forget to put it back to the coop?" She wondered.<br>"It can't be," he denied. "It was not outside when I arrived here in the morning."  
>Then they finally noticed that Nora was sitting there, watching the chicken.<br>"Could it be...?" She looked at the cat, without really believing in it.  
>"Maybe it was!" He cheered.<br>"Good things always happen to me when you're around, Cam. Thanks."  
>And as she said that, she kissed his cheek. He just stood there, static, as she brought his horse.<br>"Now you should be going. You need to open your shop, right?"  
>"Yeah... sure..."<br>He didn't even know what he was agreeing to anymore. He didn't even know what she was saying at all. All he could think about was that small kiss on his cheek and how happy he was because of it. He was mounted on his horse already when he turned his back to see her smiling and waving to him. Something inside him wanted to go back there and kiss her passionately and whole heartedly, but in the end he just waved back and went out towards Grady's animals.


	16. Chapter 16

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>Later that day the Cam saw the silver-haired guy going inside the cafe' and, not long after that, Laney going out towards Bluebell's Farm. He wondered if something happened with Lilian but the answer was not exactly as he expected.<br>"A birthday party?" Cam asked, still unable to believe it.  
>"Yes. Mikhail said it will be his birthday tomorrow and that he wanted to throw a small party," Laney answered.<br>To Cam it seemed as everyone was being too kind to that stranger. He was just a musician and would go away sooner or later to never come back. Why they should be bothered by him to throw a birthday party, he wondered.  
>He asked for too much food for a small party," Howard finally said something.<br>Up to now he was only looking at some paper, probably a list of some sort. Cam was curious but couldn't be bothered to ask. He was about to go to his room when he noticed that Laney was also checking a list. Looking at it over her shoulder he saw a few names. Helena, Rutger, Rose... His eyes got stuck in the last two names of the list, Lilian and Philip. He could understand why Lilian was invited after the shallow water island event but he started to imagine how the two guys meet. Probably Lilian introduced them, but he couldn't imagine why she would introduce Philip to him.

On the next day Cam had already closed his stall when he saw Lilian coming his way with the same clothes she was wearing on his birthday, which made him jealous. He didn't want her to dress like that to someone else.  
>"Good afternoon Cam!" She said cheerfully.<br>"Good afternoon Lilian," he said bitterly.  
>She must have noticed, because she gave him a worried look. For a second he felt guilty but he wanted to show her how hurt he was feeling, so he turned his back to her and started to rummage his flower stand, as if looking for something. She didn't say anything else, so he thought he should say something before she left.<br>"You're going to the violinist party, aren't you?" He asked, to what she answered with a "hmm". His blood started to boil. "Isn't your brother coming too? He was invited too, wasn't he? I thought you two would come together."  
>For a second his chest felt heavy and he thought about turning back to face her. It was not necessary though, since she bypassed his stall and was now by his side. She grabbed his face and forced it to turn and face her and when their eyes meet she kissed him. His hand moved to her hips and he pulled her closer, enjoying the moment. But to his misfortune it didn't last long; her lips were taken away from his as if in a rush and when he opened his eyes he didn't see her, but a closed hand coming towards him.<p>

"Ouch!" He cried out. "Be careful Laney!"  
>"It's your own fault for being punched. What did you do to let him so angry Cam?"<br>"I don't know!"  
>He lied. The hand that punched him belonged to Philip and now he couldn't stop worrying. He knew that Lilian had a brother complex by now; it was obvious by the way she reacted at every little thing Philip did for her. But now he thought her brother also had a sister complex and that would make things this much harder for him. He was having a hard time keeping the nasty thoughts away from his mind while Laney cooled his face down with some ice.<br>"Hold it yourself; I need to go back to the party."  
>Laney was going to the door when Cam grabbed her hand. She looked at him, powerless against his pain, so she sat down on his bed, pulling his head towards her lap.<br>"Just a little bit, ok? I really need to go back and help my father."  
>While he laid there still holding the ice bag she caressed his hair. Little by little he could calm down and before he knew it he had fallen asleep.<p> 


	17. Chapter 17

I wanted to say that I edited all the chapters up to this one, so for those who complained about me using - instead of ", you can go back and read again and probably you'll be happy with the results.

Also, sorry for taking so long to update. I started RPing and it took all my writing. Now that I'm not anymore I decided to take back from where I left. So expect the end of this fanfic in around ten chapters or so.

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>It was the twentieth of Fall, Lilian's birthday, and Cam had decided to make her a surprise. After getting Howard's permission the day before he woke up early and started to look for the picnic basket from Howard. The big man said he'd leave it near the stove so Cam looked for it around there, finding it under the sink.<br>_"Good thing I decided to look a bit more before asking him where it was,"_ he thought.  
>After preparing it he filled it with mushrooms, yams, eggplants, breads and some medium fishes. He even put a bottle with some iced tea that he had made the night before. It was the first time he made it, so he hoped he had prepared it the right way. Last, but not least, he put a neatly wrapped box on top of it all. When he thought that everything was ready he covered the basket and left the cafe', heading to Bluebell's farm. There he wasn't really surprised to find Ash helping her with her animals.<br>"Morning," he greeted.  
>"Hey man!" Ash greeted him back.<br>"Good morning," Lilian said, with a smile.  
>Cam looked to Ash and pondered. He did expect the other to be there too but he didn't really have a plan to get alone with Lilian. Ashy had already finished all the work and Cam didn't really have a plan in mind, when the other pointed to the picnic basket, curious.<br>"What's in there?"  
>"It's some snack for later. It is my day off after all," he lied.<br>"Okay then. I will go back to the farm to finish all the work and will come later for that cake you promised, Lil!" Ash said happily. "See you later!"  
>And after kissing her cheek he rushed back to his farm.<br>Cam was finally alone with Lilian and she smiled when he looked to her.  
>"Happy birthday Lilian," he said, approaching her. He put the basket down and hugged her, then he had an idea and turned her around, just as he saw Philip doing. He couldn't turn her around as much as Philip did but she giggled and, when he stopped, they kissed. It was a sweet kiss and they parted quickly.<br>"So, what do you have inside the basket?" She asked, jerking her head its way.  
>"That's for me to know and for you to guess," he smiled, holding her hand. "I hope you already finished all the work."<br>Lilian nodded and he lead the way from her farm to the mountain summit.

"It is funny how this place is so deserted when there is no festivals around," Lilian said as she watched the fire.  
>Cam had wrapped the yams in aluminum foil and put them under the woods before starting the fire. And they had eaten most of the mushrooms already. He managed to keep the gift hidden from Lilian so far so he thought it was a good idea to give it already. Grabbing the package from the basket he turned to Lilian and cleared his throat.<br>"This is for you," he said, handing her the package.  
>Even though it was her birthday and all Lilian still looked surprised when she saw it, and she gave him a tight hug. That's when he heard some rustling sounds, but he decided to ignore them for the time being and hugged her back. Maybe it was just the wind. At least that was what he wanted to believe. Sadly for him it was not only the wind and just as they parted from the hug the two other guys that were spying on them fell from behind a bush.<br>"Good thing I didn't kiss her," Cam thought as he saw Ash and Philip, rubbing their heads and blaming each other for their fall.  
>"I told you, you're too noisy," Philip said to Ash.<br>"If you hadn't moved so abruptly when they hugged our cover wouldn't be blown by now," Ash retorted.  
>"Ahem."<br>Cam, Philip and Ash looked to Lilian after she cleared her throat and she smiled to them.  
>"Since we're all here already and there's plenty of food, why don't you two join us?"<br>Ash and Philip seemed to completely forget they were arguing a moment ago and they joined Cam and Lilian around the fire.  
>"Sorry Cam," she apologized, putting the gift he gave her inside her rucksack. "I'll make up for it later, I promise you," she said, winking before joining the other two.<p>

Cam did mind it that Philip and Ash decided to show up but in the end the four of them managed to have a pretty good time on the picnic. And when they were done Lilian managed to convince Philip to go back to Konohana.  
>"Cam and Ash will bring me home," she said. Philip didn't seem to like the idea of Cam being around but he and Ash had become very close and he seemed to trust him better than he trusted Cam.<br>"Okay. I'll talk to you later then. And before I forget," he said, rummaging his own rucksack, "here, this is my gift for you. Happy birthday Lil."  
>She hugged him and waved as he took his way down the mountain before following Ash and Cam back to Bluebell.<br>"I baked a small cake for my birthday," she started. "Would you like to eat a piece?"  
>"I'd love too!" Ash answered. "But Cam won't come, he hates desserts," he added, jerking his thumb Cam's way.<br>Cam looked Lilian's way and their eyes met. She smiled and he decided to make the sacrifice.  
>"I'll come too," he finally said.<p>

Back at Lilian's house Cam was glad to see that the cake she made was not a chocolate one. He was up to make some sacrifices but he surely wouldn't be able to eat a chocolate cake.  
>"It's a very simple one but I hope you'll like it," she said as she cut the cake and served them. He was also glad that Ash mentioned that he didn't like cakes because Lilian was nice enough to give him a very small piece of cake. Then they sang and Ash gave her a gift too.<br>"I hope you like it," he said as she opened it. Inside there was a pout pourri.  
>"Thanks Ash, it is very beautiful," she thanked him, walking up to her bed and putting it on her side table before returning to the table.<br>"Open mine too," Cam asked.  
>She blushed a bit and rummaged through her rucksack, grabbing the package and opening it. Inside there was a bottle and a letter but Lilian only took the bottle. The perfume was made of roses, a new one that Cam just started making. She had liked all the perfumes he had given her so far so he hoped she'd like that one too.<br>"Thanks Cam," she smiled.  
>He thought about asking her to read the letter but with Ash around he suddenly felt shy. How could he ask her to read it in front of Ash? It would be the same as confessing to his friend that he was in love with Lilian.<p>

After eating the cake Ash asked Lilian to cut a piece for Cheryl and she did. He decided to leave not too long after that and forced Cam to leave too. Cam didn't want to give Ash any reasons to be suspicious so he followed him. They were almost at his family farm already when he turned to face Cam.  
>"You love her, don't you?"<br>Cam looked to Ash, powerless. If he denied it he'd be giving him an okay to go and date Lilian. And as much as he liked his friend he couldn't give up on Lilian. Not after everything that had happened.


	18. Chapter 18

Thanks all for the support. I know it took me forever to post a new chapter, but I'm just like that. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>"I do."<br>Cam didn't want to lie to Ash, so he didn't. He was ready to any kind of consequences. If Ash decided to argue, fight, cry, Cam would have to be strong. Even though he was expecting the worse, Ash laughed.  
>"I knew it. Took you long enough!"<br>"Excuse me?" Cam asked, confused.  
>"I know you like her ever since the first time I saw you two together. I did ask you if you liked her, didn't I?"<br>Cam couldn't quite remember but he did vaguely remember a conversation about Lilian. Now it seemed like an eternity ago.  
>"I am glad you finally told me so," Ash said, walking the short distance to his house's door. "Now you should say that to her, you know. And to Philip. He's furious that you kissed her when you two aren't even dating yet."<br>"You seem to be very friendly with him," Cam said, bitterly. He felt like Philip had won even his friend over.  
>"Don't sulk so much, man!" Ash said, punching Cam's shoulder. "Philip is a nice guy, you'll see. You just need to know him better. If you plan on getting serious with Lilian I advice you to try it. Or you can always go back to your platonic love for Laney and leave Lilian to me," he grinned.<br>"Sorry, that won't happen," Cam said, serious.  
>"Then take good care of her, man. She deserves it."<br>Cam watched as Ash went inside his house before heading back to the cafe'. There Howard seemed to be waiting.  
>"So, how was it?" He asked.<br>"Fine I think. Ash and Philip joined us so it wasn't as perfect as I imagined but deep inside I expected that."  
>Howard patted Cam's head and focused back into work. Laney was nowhere to be seen and Cam decided to wrap things up for the day.<p>

Yet another cooking festival was coming and the town was in an uproar.  
>"It seems Philip will enter the cooking contest for Konohana," Laney said as she finished her main dish. "If he really does that will be a first. I suppose we won't be seeing Lilian at the cooking contest today. I bet she'd hate to compete against her brother."<br>Cam wasn't very interested in the cooking festival. In fact, he wasn't interested in food as a whole thing. On the first week after Philip's punch Cam had a pretty hard time to eat anything that was too solid. And main dishes were all included on that category. He was eating mostly rice porridge and salads until recently when Howard made him his favorite.  
>"Are we celebrating something?" He had asked to Howard.<br>"Don't be silly and eat, you must be hungry and needing something better than porridge," he had said. And Cam didn't wait for him to order again.  
>Today Howard was feeling sick though. It didn't rain that much that fall but that one day that it did was the one that Howard would go and visit Rutger. He'd get home with his clothes still soaked and refused to go take a shower right away since he had 'things to do', as he had said that day. In truth Cam and Laney didn't understand what he had to do that was so urgent but a fact was a fact. And Howard surely had a cold.<br>"Are you sure you want to stay with him, Cam? You don't need to. I can ask Georgia too, she doesn't really like the cooking festivals anyway," Laney asked him, a bit of worry in her voice.  
>"I don't really like them as well. Just go and have fun Laney. Show that Konohana folks that our food surely is better than theirs," he tried to motivate her.<br>It might have worked because she left with a smile on her face. Cam thought he could just read a book when he didn't have to tend to Howard until he heard a knock at the door. Thinking that maybe it was Laney that had forgotten something he walked up to the door, his eyes still down on the book. It was out of habit that he just turned his back to the door.  
>"Did you forget any ingredient Laney?" He asked.<br>That's when it sank. Laney wouldn't knock on the door if it wasn't locked. Cam heard the person behind him clearing their throat and turned around, finally diverting his eyes from the book. To his surprise it was none other than Philip. Cam never had really been into a fight so he didn't really know how to deal with the man in front of him. As if reading his mind Philip jerked his head upstairs.  
>"I heard Howard is sick. I came to visit."<br>"Well do you know where his room is or do you need me to show you?" Cam asked trying to be as polite as he could but not being able to hide a bit of anger in his voice.  
>"I know where it is," Philip answered, his eyes scanning Cam from head to toes. Cam was feeling uncomfortable already and wondering why he didn't go upstairs already when the other pointed to his cheek. "I see it is getting better already," he said.<br>"Yeah, I am sure you're glad about it, no?" Cam hissed.  
>"Not really," the other said. "I'd wish it'd stay in your face forever to remind you what happens when someone touches my sister."<br>Cam couldn't help but to step backwards when he noticed Philip had closed the distance between them and was now standing right in front of him.  
>"Be warned flower boy, I don't want a leecher around her."<br>Cam didn't have a chance to come up with a smart enough answer. In fact, he didn't know what to answer at all. They didn't even actually kiss. That day, that is. Or did they? Somehow the memories of that day seemed to get entangled with what he believed to be dreams and nightmares. And in all honesty all he wanted to do was to erase that day and move on.

Cam was reading his book again when he heard footsteps upstairs. Wondering if Howard was asking Philip to help him made him feel a bit guilty since he promised Laney he'd take care of him, but he also didn't want to be around Philip too much. It didn't take long for the other guy to come back downstairs with a smile on his face.  
>"Is Howard okay?" Cam asked, a bit of worry on his voice.<br>"Yeah, he is fine. I just came to get him some water before leaving again. I need to go back to my farm and cook for the contest.  
>Cam always said he didn't like Konohana's food or the food contests but the truth is that he just didn't care about them. He couldn't even remember why the two towns had been fighting for such a long time. Cam wasn't born in Bluebell but he surely learnt fast that he should hate Konohana to be accepted. At first he pretended that he did until his feelings really started to grow towards the hatred. But seeing how Lilian could live there and move to Bluebell and still be the same lovely girl he met made him rethink his behavior.<br>"Are you with the ingredients you need?" Cam asked, not really sure why he was about to do what he was doing.  
>"Of course, they're all fresh harvested from Lil's farm," he said, proud.<br>"Well, why don't you cook here?" Cam asked, trying to sound as calm and inviting as he could.  
>Philip fitted him for a couple seconds that felt like minutes to Cam.<br>"Are you sure? I'm competing for Konohana, you know..."  
>"I know," Cam cut him. "I just don't want you to lose too much time. It is not like you will be using our ingredients to prepare it, so it should be fine," he finally said. "Just don't tell Howard."<br>Philip did his best to hold down a laugh and nodded.  
>"Okay then... Cam.. I'll accept your offer. Thank you."<br>It was rare for Philip to act like that around Cam and he felt his body getting stiff. The guy most likely wouldn't need help, was what he thought before sitting and returning to read his book. It didn't take long for Philip to start cooking and even less for him to finish his dish. Cam couldn't help but to be curious. What kind of dish would be ready in such a short time? Philip looked at him and noticed Cam watching before he could avert his eyes.  
>"Are you curious?" Philip teased. "Or are you hungry?"<br>"I'm not hungry," Cam protested, but just as he said that his stomach grumbled. Philip didn't hold his laugh this time around. Now that Cam thought, he didn't eat breakfast so far.  
>"You should be more honest, Cam. That'd help me to like you better too," Philip said as he got some of the food he prepared and put it in front of Cam. "This is a sushi. And before you say you don't like it, taste it."<br>Cam raised a brow but took one of them. Philip had prepared them in a way that one was enough for a mouthful. And even though they looked a bit weird he did taste it.  
>"Not bad," Cam said, actually surprised by the taste. Philip laughed.<br>"I told you so. Kids are picky with food but an adult shouldn't be. It is food after all."  
>When Philip said that his voice got a lot more serious than it had been a moment ago but he blinked his eyes and slightly shook his head before thanking him for lending the kitchen.<br>"As I said before, just don't tell Howard. He'd be really sad if he knew that."  
>"I know, I know. Don't worry, he will never know it from me."<br>And with that, Philip left.

"Howard, I brought you some food," Cam said as he knocked at the door, waiting for a sign from the man on the other side. He waited a bit before knocking again. And a bit more of time before giving up on waiting.  
>"I'm coming in," he said as he slowly openned the door, just in case Howard would be sleeping. And that's exactly how he found him. Sighing he patted Howard's shoulder before calling his name. "You need to eat a bit. Look, I cooked for you. How often do you think I do that?" He asked, trying to make a joke. And he didn't know if it was for the best or for the worse, but that did wake Howard up.<br>"Ah, you are such a good boy, Cam. Thannk you dear."  
>After seeing Howard prepare him some porridge for so many days Cam could make some himself. He was afraid that he messed it up but Howard praised him for the food.<br>"I am sorry for keeping you here Cam," he apologized.  
>"Don't need to apologize. You're like a father to me, always looking after me. Let me do that for you too," he said and Howard smiled before returning the plate and getting ready to sleep a bit more.<p> 


	19. Chapter 19

I think most of you are looking forward to the yellow flower event from Cam, right? I'm sorry, I want to trigger it on a friday and, as everyone must know, all cooking festivals on the first year's fall are on a friday. The event will be triggered on the first friday of winter. Now you guys have something to look forward to.

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>The scenery was slowly changing. The red and orange leaves that filled the trees on the start of the season were slowly pilling up. It was Sunday and while Cam was preparing for his journey to the city he couldn't forget Rose's birthday. Not even if he wanted, since Rutger himself would come and ask him to make her gift. He always gave her roses and Cam was already used to this, so he'd pretty them up as much as he could as his own way of cheering for her birthday. Today wasn't different.<br>"Hello Cam!" Rutger waved as he approached the flower stall.  
>"Hey Rutger!" He waved back before picking the flowers he had already reserved. "The same as usual."<br>Rutger always nosed the flowers with a smile before paying for them.  
>"This year's winter will be pretty harsh, it seems. You better prepare for it, Cam. Don't let those precious flowers die."<br>"I won't, don't worry."  
>Later that day Rose came to the flower stall herself and tipped him.<br>"You don't need to, Rose," he said with the shiny golden coin in his hand, still unsure if he should accept it or not. Rose gently closed his hand around the coin.  
>"Oh, but I do. I know how much effort you're putting on your flowers. See this as a token of appreciation for helping this town to be such a beautiful place."<br>After hearing that Cam couldn't help but accept the coin. And that night he slept with it under his pillow.

Instead of going to the city at Sunday's night Cam decided it'd be better to go early that morning. This way he could pay a visit to Lilian since he knew she would be awake early.  
>"Hello Lilian," he greeted her as he entered the farm.<br>She was watering some flowers she had planted close to the farm's entrance when he entered and she stopped right away, dashing into his direction. He thought she'd headbutt him but in the end she managed to stop right in front of him. Clinging to his shirt she looked up and into his eyes, his heart skipped a beat.  
>"W-what is it?" He asked, uneasy.<br>"You're going to the city, right? I thought you would be there by now," she said, curling up into his chest. "Did you come to say bye before you go?"  
>Cam hugged her and just stood there a little longer. Even though the weather was getting chilly Lilian would stubbornly dress her working clothes, which didn't keep her very warm at all.<br>"Your arms are cold," he said, rubbing his hands against her skin to warm them up. "Be careful not to get a cold."  
>"Don't worry," she answered in a low voice, untangling herself from his arms and giving him a kiss on his cheek. "Didn't you know? Fools don't get a cold."<br>"You're not a fool," he frowned.  
>"Yes, I am," she said, hugging him again and burying her face into his chest. "I'm a fool for falling in love with you."<br>One would think that it'd be hard to part ways after hearing that but Lilian made everything more easy to Cam. She just let go of him as if nothing happened and went to her stable to lend him her horse, which was a better breed than the one Cam used to rent from Grady. After that she patted the horse and mumbled something he couldn't understand. He wanted to stay a little longer and talk about what she had said but in the end Lilian was just like him. Doing things as she pleased, without caring if the other part would mind it or not.  
>"<em>If there's a fool on this story that must be me,<em>" he thought.

"Hey," a voice called from his back. "Wait!"  
>Cam stopped the horse and turned to check who was calling. It was a man in a wool suit with a red nose and very few hair on the top of his head.<br>"I remember you," the man said. "You used to participate in the bouquets competition in town, didn't you?"  
>Cam felt his heart sink, but he nodded and politely smiled.<br>"I was one of the judges, do you remember me?" The man asked, hopeful. "Ah, it doesn't really matter. Why don't you come and have a drink with me?"  
>"Sorry but I don't really drink," Cam replied, uneasy.<br>"Oh, common. Don't be a let down. We could talk about the competition, what do you think? I could give you some tips, that surely would help you to improve your skills."  
>Cam wasn't used to talk with strangers in such an openly manner but he ended up agreeing. Just a drink wouldn't kill him. He followed the man, whose name was Duncan, to a pub close by and after tying Lilian's horse outside, he went in.<br>"Hey Eve! Bring me some wine. Any wine will do!"  
>While Duncan searched for a seat for the both of them Cam added to bring a seasonal wine.<br>"Those taste the best after all," he said.  
>The girl gave him a smile and a nod before disappearing behing the balcony. Cam followed Duncan to a seat close to the windows and before they had even started talking Eve was back with a bottle of Fall Wine and two glasses.<br>"Thank you dear," Duncan said, blinking to her. "First of all I want to make a toast. You are a very talented boy. All the judges were sad that you didn't participate in the competition anymore."  
>Cam had to hear Duncan rambling about things like the last bouquets that won the competition as well as who had won. It sounded like a new face had shown up and the person was winning the competition non stop since them.<br>"She showed up around the end of summer, if I'm not mistaken. No one can deny that she has talent."  
>From what Cam had heard the bouquets didn't have anything out of the ordinary. But then again, just hearing Duncan saying it wasn't enough.<br>"I think I might go this time," he said. Duncan's eyes shone but Cam was fast to put his hopes down. "As an spectator. I'd like to see what the new person is doing."  
>Duncan nodded and Cam looked out the windows to avoid listening to his complaints. Duncan seemed decided to bring Cam back to the competition but he stubbornly refused to go. Deep down he was still feeling uneasy about it. It was then that he saw a shop on the other side of the road. There he saw a bunch of feminine clothes.<br>"_Maybe I could buy Lilian a scarf or even a coat_," he thought.  
>Just the thought that winter was coming and Lilian didn't have anything warmer to dress was making him uneasy. So he parted ways with Duncan after leaving the pub andn headed to the shop. A girl came to his aid and even helped him, showing him what was the latest fashion in the city. All the clothes she showed up were very fancy but little practical.<br>"The girl I'm going to give this to works in a farm. Don't you have something more simple?"  
>The girl nnodded and went into the stock. Cam was afraid that she would bring something too fancy again but the girl seemed to understand what he wanted perfectly. She brought three pieces of cloth, one being a coat, one being a beret and one being a scarf.<br>"This is a set but you can buy them separetly if there is something you don't like. Those are the simplest ones we have here."  
>Cam checked the price and noticed he didn't have enough to buy the whole set so he got in a tight spot.<br>"I will buy the scarf and the beret," he decided at last. "And I'd also like a pair of leather gloves to match these, if you don't mind."

"I don't know why you wanted to come so badly," Nina said, clearly pissed off. "We agreed to not come here until your skills were honed."  
>"I know Nina," he said, not really looking into her eyes. "But you never mentioned anything about not coming to watch. That's valid, isn't it?"<br>Nina couldn't retort and that's how Cam won the arguing. They got good places on the front row and managed to see the so popular new face. It was, in fact, a middle aged woman with blue eyes and pink hair. The same pink as Nina.  
>"I really can't believe it," she mumbled.<br>"What is it?" Cam asked.  
>"You will know when the time is right."<p>

"Congratulations Nana."  
>The woman turned around and, at the sight of Nina, she left everyone who was pampering her behind, just to give her a hug. Nina didn't seem to share the same merry feeling though.<br>"Nina! It's been so long! How are you doing?"  
>"I'm fine. But I didn't know you were back in town. How long have you been here?"<br>Cam thought it wasn't really a good idea to meddle, so he just gave them some distance. At first they seemed to be arguing. Nina was obviously angry but at some point the other woman started to cry and Nina hugged her to comfort her. Their eyes meet and Cam understood that, for now, it would be better to leave them be. He could always take the chance and pay a visit to Vaughn, which he did, just to find out that they were not in town but at the island. There was nothing more for him to do at the city, so he resumed his visit to the city. It was time to go home.

The week was passing by slowly and the last seasonal fruits were being harvested as well as the flowers. Cam was being careful to get enough seeds from the flowers he successfully managed to grow at Bluebell so he'd have more to plant on the next year. Lloyd said he'd supply him with more if he needed and he was almost sure he would need them but he wanted to save those for Lilian.  
>"<em>I wonder how she will feel when she finds out I'm the one who prepared these seeds<em>," he proudly thought to himself.  
>It was a wednesday and even though most people was heading to the center of town for the animal contest Cam was more worried with his flowers. To point that he didn't hear it when the door to his room openned, nor did he notice the person standing behind him.<br>"Hey," they called. But Cam didn't reply and kept writing his notes. "Hey, I said hey! Don't leave me here calling you, you jerk."  
>By saying that Philip hit Cam's head. Not with so much strength to hurt him but enough for the other man to notice he was there.<br>"Oh... hey," Cam greeted, rubbing his head where the other had hit it.  
>"Hey," Philip said again, lookign at Cam with dull eyes.<br>"So," Cam asked, cleaning his hands in a cloth, "what do you want today?"  
>"I thought I'd invite you to watch my sister get the first place on the animal festival today. You want to come?"<br>Cam agreed but by the time they got to where everyone was gathered he started regreting.  
>"Sheeps?"<br>"What? This is your town and your festival! How come you didn't know it?" Philip asked, laughing loudly. So loud that some people started to stare, making Cam uncomfortable.  
>"I don't really care about animal festivals."<br>What bothered him wasn't that the it was the sheep festival, but seeing sheeps reminded him of that one time when Lilian cut her hand while shearing a sheep. He was still jealous of Philip back then. Not that he wasn't now, but he felt that he had grown closer to Lilian and that was reassuring enough.  
>"Still, you came. I wonder if you came because I asked or if it is just to see Lilian," Philip said, hopping on a fence to watch better. "Well, it is not like I care. As long as you keep me company."<br>"I didn't know you liked my company," Cam said, hopping by Philip's side.  
>"It is not that I like or dislike it," Philip said, serious. "But you're not as friendly as Ash, for example. If he wasn't participating in it I wouldn't have to ask you to keep me company."<br>Cam didn't understand then but with time he'd understand that this was Philip's way to get to know him better. Cam wouldn't try to approach him by himself and he knew how important Cam was to Lilian, so he had no other choice other than get close to him by his own means. It'd be funny to Philip but not so much to Cam.


	20. Chapter 20

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>Lilian didn't win the first place in the end. Ash did know his animals for a lot more of time than Lilian did but she still got third place and, for that, she was happy. Cam knew that just by looking at her smile. She thanked him and Philip for coming and cheering for her and they talked a bit about the next season and how they would proceed with the farm and the animals. For a moment Cam thought he heard them saying something about "moving" but he shrugged it off. It was no use to get worried with that right now. And even if Lilian did move back to Konohana he knew that she'd come back everyday. That was just how she was.<br>By the end of the day Cam felt he forgot something really important. At first he thought it was a flower but all the plants had been harvested, all the seeds were well kept and all his notes were made. Without knowing what it could be he gave up on remembering and went to sleep.

Thursday was a day off and Cam woke up pretty happy that day. The same couldn't be said about Howard. The man had been sulking and Cam was wondering if he had been getting a cold again.  
>"You should rest if you're feeling unwell, Howard."<br>The man perked up for a second but went back to his sad face as soon as Laney went out of the cafe'. He sighed.  
>"Are you going out too, Cam?" He asked, his voice sounding a bit too sad for Cam's taste, making him wonder if something bad had happened.<br>"Well, yes. It is my day off and I wanted to check on Lilian," he finally said, wondering if that would be a good answer. Howard did get a small smile on his face and patted Cam's shoulder before shooing him.  
>"You shouldn't leave a girl waiting then."<br>And with those words Cam left the cafe' directly to Lilian's farm. But getting there he couldn't find anyone around.  
>"Maybe she is still sleeping?" He wondered, going up to the house and knocking on the door. There was no answer.<br>His next big idea was to look for her on the mountains. Lilian was very active but she would always use the same old path to walk up and down the mountains. He surely would find her if he tried hard enough.

"I can't believe it!" Lilian scolded.  
>"But he acted as if it was nothing," he lied.<br>Cam did meet Lilian in the mountains. She was harvesting flowers and making a flower crown with them. Cam had just asked her who she was going to give it to when she reminded him of what day it was.  
>"You live under the same roof, I really can't believe that you forgot his birthday," Lilian scolded again.<br>"And I can't go back to try and prepare something. It'd be too obvious that I forgot," Cam sulked.  
>"Why don't you two go to my farm and finish your gifts there?"<br>The couple turned in the voice's direction just to find Philip there, with crossed arms.  
>"Gosh, you two are really narrow minded. You just had to look in the calendar. Don't you have a calendar?"<br>Lilian giggled for a reasonn Cam didn't understand. In the end the three agreed to go to Konohana's farm and finish their gifts there.

It was the first time Cam was going to Konohana in the autumn. The scenery, though it was the same season as Bluebell, seemed completely different.  
>"Do you at least have any idea of what to make him?" Phiip asked.<br>"Well I was making this flower crown. But I was going to cook something too. Howard is always so excited about the cooking contests. And he always cook at the cafe' too, so it'd be nice if he was the one receiving the food for a change."  
>"Now that you mention it, we could make him a surprise party. It would be good if Laney was with us, this way it could really be a surprise," Philip said. "Yeah, that's it. I will go back to Bluebell and will get Laney. You two go ahead and prepare your gifts."<br>"What about you?" Lilian asked.  
>"I had my gift ready for a couple days already, so don't worry. Focus on what you two will do, okay? I will be right back."<br>"I wonder what Laney will think when Philip tells her we're preparing the surprise party here," Cam thought out loud.  
>"I think it will be fine," Lilian replied. "I mean, it is for her father, right? There's no way she could say no. But you should think about something to give him. And fast, because we don't have that much time."<br>Lilian decided to make the drinks. Howard liked a large variety of juices but Cam didn't so she made tea.  
>"Does Laney like tea, Cam?" She asked.<br>"I think she does, I never really paid attention to that."  
>Cam, on the other hand, decided to make the main dish. He knew that Laney would most likely be doing the cake so there was only that left.<br>"It should be something pretty easy to digest since we will be dinning," Lilian proposed.  
>They were already working on their dishes when Philip showed up and, to their surprise, Laney too. She didn't seem very happy but she wasn't bothered by being at Konohana either.<br>"So, this is the red town?" She asked, curious.  
>"Yes, it is. But I don't think it is a good idea to go wandering around by yourself now. You can talk with Dirk but don't go to Kana's place. He wouldn't like to see Bluebell people here."<br>Laney nondded obediently and proceeded to help Lilian and Cam with their dishes. Howard would be at Bluebell's town hall until 5 PM so they had until then to prepare everything and go back.

Going back to Bluebell turned out to be the hardest part. There was only Lilian's and Philip's horses and four people, plus the food. In the end they decided to go walking through the mountain so "the dishes won't get damaged in the proccess", or so had said Laney. No one had objected, so they put the food on baskets and walked. They still had some time before Howard came back from the town hall so they preparted everything as neatly as they could. Laney called some more people, like Georgia and her father while Lilian decided it'd be a nice idea to invite Eileen.  
>"She's a nice person, so why not?" Was her reasoning.<br>All of them managed to get something simple to give to Howard. All they had to do now was to wait.  
>"Why don't we close the curtains? This way we could turn off the lights and make it an even bigger surprise," Grady proposed.<br>Everyone agreed with the idea and, slowly, the surprise party started to take shape. The only thing missing was Howard himself.  
>"The town hall is not that close, he will be getting here any time now," Laney said, turning off the lights. "Don't move too much, okay? I don't want you guys getting hurt by stumbling on the tables or the chairs."<br>Lilian was standing by Cam's side, trying to get used to the darkness involving the place. He was too, but he had something else in mind. Taking advantage of the darkness his hand searched for her hands and, once found, he squeezed it. Lilian squeezed his hand back and the two stood there, holding hands and waiting. It wasn't for that long though, since the door openned and they heard the voice of a surprised Howard complaining about the darkness. It was when he switched the lights on again that everyone shouted together.  
>"Surprise!"<br>Howard stood there for a second before starting to cry and hug everyone.  
>"We wanted to make you a surprise," Laney said.<br>"I thought you all had really forgotten it," he sniffed while hugging Georgia, that was getting as red as her hair. "That was so cruel. But it is so marvelous, too! I'm so happy!"  
>They wanted to procceed to giving him the gifts but food was sacred to Howard.<br>"Let's eat first, or it will get cold."  
>Lilian prepared some rose tea and most people seemed to like it. Cam had prepared some arancini with Laney's help while the Laney herself had prepared a party cheesecake. Howard seemed in very high spirits by the time they were done eating so they decided it was the right time to give him his gifts.<br>"I can't boast as much as those three that I made the gift myself but here. I asked to the blacksmith in Konohana to make these. They're new pans. I couldn't help but notice how some of yours were getting old," Philip explained.  
>"That's very sweet of you, dear. But I don't think you ever saw me cooking, how did you know about the pans?" Howard asked, absorbed with the new pans. Philip just looked to Cam and, noticing it, Cam smiled.<br>"I also prepared you a gift, though it isn't as usefull as pans," Lilian said, giving him the flower crown.  
>Georgia gave him a notebook so he could write his recipes down on it, Grady gave him a bunch of doilies for the tables and Eileen gave him new tools since he had been asking help pretty often with the roof. It started to get late so the guests started to leave. Cam didn't offer to bring Lilian back home since Philip pretty much didn't give him a breach to even ask. He did offer to help Laney to clean everything afterwards though.<br>"I can help too!" Said an excited Howard.  
>"No, it is your birthday father. Go and take some rest now. We will take care of this."<br>He didn't object and obediently went upstairs. Cam and Laney agreed that she'd wash the dishes while he would dry them. They were silent for a while until Laney broke the silence.  
>"Seems like you and Lilian are getting along pretty well," she started a conversation.<br>"You think so?" He asked, not sure if it was a good thing to tell her about his feelings. Laney was his first crush after all and even though he never said it out loud he was sure that she knew.  
>"Well, you even went to Konohana for her. I'm a bit jealous," she said with a smile.<br>"She is just like that, I think. I can't say no to her."  
>"You couldn't to me too," she retorted. "But what you two have isn't like what we have," she sighed. "There was a time when I liked you, Cam."<br>Cam stood there, in shock. How should he reply to that? He didn't even have time to think about it properly because she continued.  
>"When you first got here you didn't talk with us, you didn't seem to care either, but you always replied with a honest and warm answer whenever we talked to you. Your attitude, though cold, was pretty cool too," she said, finishing to wash the plates and starting to wash the cups. Cam just continued to dry them.<br>"I also liked you," he confessed, and Laney stopped to look at him. "I liked you for the longest of the times, but I never knew how to confess. You seemed like someone unapproachable, so I was happy to like you from afar. I never thought you liked me too."  
>The two continued in silence. It was awkward at first but the heavy air around them dissipated when Laney finished washing the last cup. She cupped his head within her hands and kissed him. It was a fast kiss and when they parted, a tear started to roll down her face.<br>"This will be the first and the last, okay?" She said, wipping the tear with the back of her hand. "Good night Cam."  
>After saying that Laney started to climb the stars. Cam watched her back and, middle way, when she looked back and their eyes meet, she smiled before continuing upstairs.<br>"Good bye, my first love."


	21. Chapter 21

Some of you might have noticed that I left the last line from the last chapter without a "voice". That's mostly because that's the way both of them felt. So no matter who you think that worded it, the feeling is mutual. I just thought I'd say that so those of you who read it as one of them could read as the other too.

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>It was the last friday of Fall and, to Cam's relief and horror, the last cooking contest of the season too. It was a relief because it would be the last of the season and he would be able to enjoy his free days in peace again. And the horror was for the mere fact that it was the dessert category. But just this time he wanted to go and watch. So he woke up early and prepared his best clothes, took a quick shower and even put on some perfume before heading to Lilian's farm with a package under his arm. The place was deserted when he arrived so he just knocked on the door. When Lilian got to the door he couldn't help but to hold his laugh. Her hair was all tangled and she was rubbing her eyes. Obviously she had just woke up.<br>"Good morning," she said slowly. "Want some coffee? I have milk too," she invited, opening the door. "Come on in."  
>"Just some milk will be fine," he told her, closing the door behind him.<br>She nodded and went to the kitchen to get the milk while Cam looked around. It wasn't the first time he came to her house but he'd always feel a bit weird coming all by himself. This time Cam noticed that Lilians bed was bigger. It surely was a couple's bed.  
>"Is this new, Lilian?" He asked.<br>"Yeah," she replied nonchalantly. "Eileen made it for me, she's pretty good with buildings, you know."  
>After saying that Lilian poured some milk in a cup for him and started to comb her hair. Cam just ignored the milk, keeping his eyes on Lilian.<br>"Are you going to participate on the cooking contest today?" He managed to ask, still mesmerized.  
>"I don't know, I don't think I have enough ingredients. But we could go and watch it if you want to."<br>He nodded and finally drank the milk in front of him, just then noticing that she had prepared a french toast as well.  
>"What is it? You don't like french toast?" She asked, coming and taking a bite of it while he was still holding it and inspecting it. Cam's cheeks got all red from that.<br>"Hey, that's my toast," he said, pretending to be offended.  
>Lillian just giggled and continued to get ready. And Cam devoured the toast, trying to avoid thinking about the last night.<br>"So, what's the package under your arm? Or is that some kind of secret?" She asked.  
>Just then Cam remembered about the package and, as nonchalantly as he managed to do it, he handed it over.<br>"It's a gift. I bought for you the last time I went to the city."  
>"Is it okay to open it now?" She asked, obviously excited about it.<br>"Sure. But it will be more useful when winter is here."  
>When Lilian saw what the gift was she started to put them on already. The beret and the gloves fit perfectly and she rubbed her hands inside the gloves.<br>"Thank you. How did you get the right size?" She asked.  
>Cam couldn't answer. He thought it'd sound too bold of him if he simply said that her sizes were burnt on his mind because all he could think about lately was her. Instead, he took her hands and looked at her.<br>"I have something I want to tell you."  
>"I'm listening," she said, but he shook his head.<br>"Now isn't the right time. On the next friday my free days will be back. Then, and only then, I will tell you."

Cam didn't know how he managed to postpone his confession, but it sounded as something good enough to be done. He wanted to enjoy the last days of fall with the girl he loved. What if she refused him?  
>"<em>That won't happen, you idiot,<em>" he thought to himself. "_Didn't she already say that she loves you?_"  
>He knew that pretty well, but he was still lacking the courage. On the way to the mountain summit they talked about the weather and the desserts. Lilian seemed to really like them and Cam wondered if she'd make him eat them too if they married. Somehow thinking about a future with Lilian sounded so normal that he couldn't keep his thoughts from going towards that way. They watched as people from Konohana showed up as well as people from Bluebell. The mayors still hissed at each other, like a cat and a dog, eternal enemies. Philip entered the contest and made Cam wonder what kind of candy he knew that had green for a color. He shrugged it off after they announced the results and Bluebell won. Not that he didn't expect that, since Howard was there.<br>"Congratulations Howard," Philip greeted him before patting Lilian and nodding to Cam. "Lil, you should go back to Konohana with me. You left your horse there after all. I suppose you could leave it there another day but..."  
>"It is okay," she cut him. "It must be missing me after all. Cam, do you mind if I go with Philip to Konohana? We can talk later."<br>"Sure, no problem. Go ahead."  
>Cam watched as Lilian mounted the horse with Philip and as they went down the mountain. He didn't have much to do so he just stayed behind, watching everyone leave. He even offered some help to take things down. Surprisingly enough, even though the two mayors always fought in front of everyone, they cooperated a lot to clear the place. It was pretty nice to see, and Cam wondered if there was something he could do to help patch things up between the two of them.<p>

When the place was deserted the sun was already setting and Cam decided to watch it. It was then that he felt something inside his pockets and, inspecting it, he noticed it was the gold coin Rose gave him. There was the Goddess pond close by and he thought that, just like a wishing well, he'd try to make a wish. So he tossed the coin inside and closed his eyes, making a prayer.  
>"Oh Harvest Goddess, please give me courage to tell Lilian how I feel about her."<br>After that he opened his eyes and started walking down back to Bluebell. A green haired woman with light clothes came out of the pond, rubbing the top of her head with a hand and with a coin on the other.  
>"It is pretty rude to toss coins in the Goddess pond," she said. "But I will listen to your request, flower boy."<p>

In the blink of an eye it was monday again. Cam and Nina were taking the route to visit Zephyr Town so they could get new seeds from Lloyd. Both were pretty excited and Cam thought it was a good chance to ask Nina about Nana without making her angry.  
>"You never told me you have a sister," he said. "And she has the same pink hair as you do. That is pretty hard to find."<br>"The pink hair is a mark that all the girls inside our family have. That's why it is so rare," she answered, without mentioning Nana.  
>"Now that I think about it, I lived with you since I was a kid and never saw a picture of your family," he pondered. "Is there something wrong with it?"<br>"Not really," she said, trying to push the subject away. But Cam insisted enough to the point of pissing her off and she decided to tell him at least a bit.  
>"Nana and I are twins. We did pretty much everything together. Even when we fell in love, it would be for the same guy. One might think this is funny but, in fact, it is not. Nana is the most talkative and cheerful from the two of us, so she'd always have an easy time getting the boys. That was until I met Gregory."<br>"Wasn't Gregory your deceased husband?" Cam asked, surprised.  
>"Yes, that's right. She tried pretty hard but in the end, he did choose me. We married and lived together until the day he died. But Nana couldn't accept it, so she moved away saying she would never come back. It was really a surprise to see her back."<br>"Maybe she wants to be friends again," Cam said, merrily.  
>"That might be, but I wouldn't be so certain about it," she replied with a serious expression that made Cam worry.<p>

"Here are the seeds for winter. It was pretty handy that the last day of the month would be a monday, don't you think?" Lloyd asked with a smile.  
>"Yes, that sure is. Well, here is the payment for the seeds. Wish me good luck," Cam asked.<br>"Good luck," Lloyd said. "And don't forget to order the seeds for spring. I have a variety that I'm sure you'll like."  
>Cam avoided mentioning Nana on the way back but there was something else he needed to discuss with his master.<br>"It is about the bouquet contest. I wanted to go back to it," he confessed.  
>"I thought you'd say that when you asked me to go with you to watch it. You've been always in the contest so you never had the chance to watch it as a mere spectator. How did you feel then?"<br>"Bad," he confessed. "I still think my bouquets were better than most of the bouquets people showed in there," he complained.  
>"Most, you said. Then there was a bouquet you thought was better than then all. Let me guess: Nana's?"<br>"Not really," he shook his head. "In fact, there was an old man in there with a very delicate bouquet. Even though it had pretty simple flowers, for me, it was the most beautiful from them all."  
>"That's because he put his feelings in it," she said, and when Cam looked at her with skeptical eyes she laughed. "What? Just because I wasn't the one who made it doesn't mean that I can't sense those things. You must feel them too if you managed to pick it as your favorite. You're right, his bouquet was filled with love but it didn't have much technique. And that is exactly what you're missing too, my dear student."<p> 


	22. Chapter 22

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>The red scenery had given place to the white and to the chilly wind. Cam had started to wear a coat instead of his normal waistcoat and most people that worked outside also started to walk around with warmer clothes. He had fun watching Lilian going from the cafe' to the town hall, from there to the request board, from there to Eileen's house and then from there back from the way she came with Eileen right behind her. Laney didn't talk with him much nowadays but when they did it seemed more natural than before and he felt relieved too. Everything seemed to be going well and the first friday of the season came in a flash. Cam was going to the mountain, hoping to find Lilian somewhere around when he heard a meowing.<br>"_Just like before, uh?_" He thought to himself.  
>It was only a kitten and its pawn wasn't stuck in the trunk. He wondered why the cat was meowing until he heard a voice from his back.<br>"Poor thing, must be scared of the water."  
>Cam turned around and saw Lilian dressed in the warmest clothes she had. It still showed too much skin for his taste, but at least she was wearing the beret, the scarf and the gloves.<br>"If it is scared of the water how did it get there in the first place?" He asked.  
>"Probably by the small rocks there," she pointed to the right but Cam couldn't see any stone trail leading to the small island. "Or maybe it was chasing a small fish and, when it noticed, it was there? Anyway, we shouldn't just stand here, we should save him!"<br>"Save him?" He gulped.  
>Both of them were wearing just a normal pair of shoes and the water was pretty cold already. Just thinking about goign to the island was giving him the chills. But he was the man and if someone had to do it, it should be him.<br>"I'll go get it," he said, pulling his sleeves up.  
>"Wait!" Lilian pulled him back before he put his foot in the water. He waited while she rummaged inside her bag and smiled when she gave him a small fish. "If it is really hungry it should come to you without many troubles if you use this. I think that even if it is not hungry it may come."<br>"I will try," he said, putting his right foot inside the water. At first it was too cold, to the point that he wanted to run back and give up on it but hearing the cat meowing was too heartbreaking. He showed the fish to the the kitten and it started to come closer until it was close enough for Cam to hold it in his arms. The cat had its pawns a bit wet so Lilian wrapped it inside her scarf when they were back to the margin.  
>"What now?" Lilian asked<br>"It has a collar. Maybe we could look around for its owner?" Cam suggested.  
>"It won't hurt."<br>The first place they decided to go was to Ash's farm. They did have a lot of visits on the start of the winter, most of the customers looking for sheeps and alpacas, as well as fodder.  
>"A lost cat? Hmm... I feel like I've seen that cat around here before," Ash said, rubbing his chin. "Sorry... I can't remember anything more than that."<br>"It's OK. Sorry to bother you," Cam said while taking Lilian's hand.  
>"Oh, don't worry about it! I hope you guys are able to find its owner!"<br>"Thanks," Can said while turning to Lilian that had her cheeks red. "All right, let's go ask someone else," he said, ignoring the fact that his cheeks, too, were turning red.  
>The next place they decided to search for the owner was Grady's animals. Georgias was tending to the animals so she was the first one to see them.<br>"I reckon I've seen that cat somewhere before... But I can't rightly remember where... I've got a hunch it was with one of our regulars at our shop."  
>"Really...?" Cam asked, skeptical, but Lilian perked up.<br>"I reckon so. I'll let y'all know if I remember anything else. I'd be glad to look after it for a while if y'all need. Just say the word!"  
>"Thanks a lot," he said with a smile. "We will."<br>Outside the shop Cam and Lilian walked a bit, clueless about what they should do.  
>"The search isn't going very well, is it? I wonder what we should do if we don't find the cat's owner...?"<br>Cam felt Lilian's hand on his shoulder. It moved through his back to the opposite shoulder and, before he knew it, she has hugging him.  
>"Don't be so pessimistic now. We surely will find it," she said, kissing his cheek and letting go from the hug.<br>"It makes me wonder why you like me if I'm so pessimistic," he sighed before shaking his head. "But you're right. We can't give up right now. Thank you."  
>Their eyes met and Lilian smiled. Cam leaned closer and their lips were almost touching when they heard a scream.<br>"Nico!" The voice called. "Here, Nico. Where are you?"  
>It was a female voice and it sounded pretty desperate. Cam and Lilian walked towards the voice and found an old lady searching close to the bushes. The cat started to meow immediately and the woman looked to them. Most exactly, to the cat in Cam's arms.<br>"Oh! It's you, Nico! Thank goodness! You had me worried there!" She said, taking it from Cam's arms and lifting it up above her head. "You chased off after that bug and disappeared! I've been looking everywhere! Well, I'm just glad that you're all right!" She finally said, patting its head and warming it up in an embrace. Cam and Lilian were about to leave the lady and the cat when she called to them. "Were you kids looking after him? Thank you very much! I'm Nico's owner," she said, extending a hand. Both Cam and Lilian shook it, one at a time. I'm sorry but I've spent so much time looking for Nico that if I don't hurry I will miss the ride out of town. I wanted to thank you somehow but I don't have time now, I'm sorry," she said, tearing up.  
>"Oh no, don't worry about it," Cam said, patting the woman's shoulder and handing her a handkerchief. "We're just glad we found his owner."<br>"What nice kids you are! You'll have to excuse me, then. I have to go. Let's go, Nico!"  
>The cat jumped from the lady's arms and Cam started to panic, thinking that it would run away again. But instead it came to his leg and rubbed against it, meowing.<br>"Oh! Nico thanked you, too!" The lady said, cheerfully.  
>"Oh, uh... You're... welcome?" He said, unsure, giving it a rub on its ear.<br>When the cat and the lady were out of sight Cam sighed and peaned his head on Lilian's shoulder.  
>"What a day we had, don't you think? I'm glad you were with me. I don't know how I would have handled everything if you weren't."<br>He felt her hand taking his beret away and caressing his hair.  
>"It is okay. You'd have done it well too, I'm sure."<br>He pulled her closer to him and hugged her. They stood there like that for a bit, Cam thinking about how this would be the best moment to confess. But Lilian took the best of him again.  
>"It is getting late," she said. "I need to go back home to put the animals back."<br>There was a bit of sadness in her voice and he knew that she was waiting for him to confess. But he didn't have the guts to do it.  
>"I'll walk you home. Let's go."<p> 


	23. Chapter 23

I know the last chapter was short but I really couldn't bring myself to add anything to it. If I had I have the feeling it would break the sweetness of it.  
>Two more chapters until the end, guys! Once again, thanks for all the support!<p>

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>Even though Cam didn't like sweets he was anxious for the winter harmony day. Too bad for him, it would be on a monday. Lilian visited him on the sunday and didn't give him anything sweet. It was a bit disappointing but he could understand it. She wouldn't give him a dessert as a gift on any normal day. And tomorrow he wouldn't be in town to eat any. He had resumed his work at the flower stall and went inside the cafe', just to find father and daughter waiting for him.<br>"Let's have dinner together," Laney invited, going up to him and pulling him towards the set table.  
>"You didn't need to wait for me. Are we celebrating something?" Cam asked.<br>"Not really," Howard said, serving the food. "We just want you to have a nice day tomorrow. You seem pretty excited about going to the city lately."  
>And he was. On the last monday he had a conversation with Nina about what she told him.<br>"Technique isn't something you get only by watching others. You need to practice too. You were always confident about your bouquets but back then they didn't have either love or technique. Now you learnt how to put your love in them so all that you're lacking is the technique. I'd send you to study with Nana but knowing her, she'd do something to prejudice you and I want to avoid that. So let's continue being spectators. You watch and you learn. If you have questions I can answer them but you need to observe and learn all by yourself."  
>Cam understood what she meant then and even though he wanted to participate he was going, once again, just to watch. Before leaving though Laney handed him a small gift.<br>"Don't open it today, just tomorrow. And don't think much about it, okay?" She said.  
>Cam nodded and walked the short distance to Grady's animals, got his usual horse and headed to the city.<p>

"Hurry up you sleepy head. Or we will be late!"  
>"I know, I know," he mumbled, still putting his shoes on.<br>Nina had retired from the bouquet competitions a long time ago but a lot of people still recognized her when they saw her. Judges, spectators and even participants, all of them would gather around her whenever she'd show her face. And that day wasn't different.  
>"Hey Cam," a male's voice called. Cam turned around just to see Duncan waving his way. "Come here boy, let's talk for a bit while your teacher gets untangled from the crowd."<br>Cam felt a bit sorry for her but at the same time he could understand those people. She was like an idol for them. This didn't seem to please Nana though, but Cam didn't think that she could do something bad to Nina. Not in front of everyone.  
>"So, do you know when you'll start competing again? Some of the judges have been anxious," he asked.<br>"I'm not too sure myself, honestly," Cam answered. "Nina said I'm missing the technique but I am still trying to understand what is this technique she told me about."  
>"Ha ha ha!" Duncan laughed loudly. "Nina is sharp, for sure. That's exactly the part of the judgment that was bringing your notes down. Do you want me to give you some tips?"<br>"Wouldn't that put us in trouble?" Cam asked.  
>"Not really, not really," Duncan shrugged Cam's worries away. "Think about the technique in the bouquet like the steps of a dance. You can dance following the music's style or you can dance on your own way. Both are valid and people might admire you if you do dance free style more than if you follow the steps from the dance. However, if you're in a contest you might and will be disqualified if you dance, for example, mambo when the competition is all about valse. Do you get what I mean?"<br>"A little," Cam said, a bit relieved.  
>"If you manage to understand the soul of the contest you're entering you will most likely understand what you need to win that contest."<br>Duncan was quiet after that, for what Cam was grateful. "_To understand the soul of the contest_," he thought. For as long as he participated in that contest he always thought about it as being a contest for any kind of bouquets but now that Duncan had mentioned it, he had his doubts. Did he miss any detail? He couldn't think about it much longer because Nina finally managed to disperse the crowd and was heading his way.  
>"Come Cam," she grabbed his arm and started to drag him. Cam only had time to lift his hat to Duncan, that waved to them as they left.<br>"What's wrong? This is not the way to the spectators' chairs."  
>"I know that much," she said, clearly in a sour mood. "Seems like one of the judges got sick and they want me to replace it, so bear with me. You'll watch everything from the backstage."<p>

The backstage. Cam couldn't remember how long it had been since he had been there. All the people moving around, making the final touches, replacing one or other flower that didn't look as nice anymore, people changing clothes and putting on make up... all of them mixed together, talking about their daily life normally.  
>"I forgot the greenhouse door open and my dog ruined almost all my flowers. I'll most likely won't be able to participate on the next week," one said.<br>"My daughter is pregnant! I hope it will be a boy, so I will be able to play with him!" An old man said.  
>Even Nana had been talking excitedly about a recipe for fertilizer that she made herself.<br>"It is much better than this one you use, you should try it," she said, giving a sample to the other lady she was talking to.  
>"Hey everyone, please get ready, it is about to start."<br>That was enough to end the conversations. All the participants got in their places with their bouquets put in the same glass vase. Nina was sitting by the judge's table and the host of the contest didn't miss the chance to announce her presence. Most of the people in there knew it already since they saw her earlier but they clapped nonetheless and she stood and bowed to show her gratitude. The contest started right after that. Each contestant had the chance to tell a bit more about what the theme of their bouquets was. And now that Cam thought about it, he never really cared that much about the theme.  
>"<em>Maybe this is what Nina and Duncan want me to improve,<em>" he thought.  
>The contest went smoothly and, this time, the old man won. His theme was 'the snow field' but, if Cam looked to it closely, there were very few white flowers in it, and he wondered why it had won.<br>"You should have paid more attention to the description of the theme, not the theme itself," Nina explained. "He did say that the colored flowers were the ones hidden behind the snow, waiting for spring to come so they could bloom and fill the world with their colors again. Look at it again. See how the white flowers are small but are on top of the colored ones? You could see them as the snowflakes. It was very charming if you ask me."  
>"Then he won because of the details?"<br>"No, he won because of the whole thing. I already told you, no matter how much effort you put into a bouquet if you don't put emotion in it. And no matter how much feelings you put in it, you still need a theme and the technique. You need to practice more."  
>"I know..."<br>"Cam!"  
>He turned around when he heard the voice calling him. He knew that voice pretty well but it couldn't be her. She should be back in Bluebell, taking care of her livestock by now. Still, when he turned around there she was.<br>"Lilian? What are you doing here?"  
>The girl jumped on his neck and he hugged her. He couldn't help but laugh.<br>"Shouldn't you be in Bluebell? Will your animals be alright without their owner?" He asked, a bit worried.  
>"It is okay, Ash agreed to take care of my animals for me," she told him.<br>It all would be too well if he didn't hear someone clean their throat. That was Philip.  
>"Oh, hi Philip," he greeted him, feeling a bit uneasy.<br>"Hi Cam. We were watching the bouquet contest. I didn't know you used to participate in it. Lilian was the one who told me."  
>"I really thought you were going to participate this time," she confessed, parting from the hug but holding his hands. "I was really looking forward to see your bouquets!"<br>"There's nothing that special in them, really," he said, feeling a bit sad. He started to regret not putting much effort into making a theme back when he participated.  
>"Well, I'm sure they're still great. You have to show me when you make a new one."<p>

Philip, Nina, Cam and Lilian were heading back to Nina's house. She invited them for dinner but Lilian and Philip didn't want to bother, so she insisted that they went to a restaurant not too far away from there.  
>"But first I need to go back home and get my wallet," she told them.<br>"Then we're going with you," Philip demanded. "And I'm not taking no as an answer."  
>And that's how the four of them headed that way. Philip was talking with Nina a bit in front of Cam and Lilian, that were walking while holding hands until Lilian seemed to remember something and rummaged her bag.<br>"Here. Happy winter harmony day. I know you don't like desserts, but I hope you'll eat it."  
>Her face was getting all red from it and Cam couldn't help but to open it and give it a bite right away. Lilian had used dark chocolate and cacao instead of the usual milk chocolate and the dessert didn't taste as cloying as chocolate usually would make him feel.<br>"It is good," he confessed.  
>"You don't need to lie, I know you don't like desserts," she said, lowering her head. "That's why I made it small too," she mumbled.<br>"Thank you," he whispered on her ear and she got even redder. "_I wonder if I will ever get tired of teasing her like this_," he thought. Eating her dessert made him remember about Laney's gift, so he took the chance that they were all back to Nina's house to go and open it. Surely enough it was chocolate, and it had a small note.  
>"<em><strong>I hope you will still accept my chocolates as a friend,<strong>_" was what was written in it.  
>Cam tasted it and it was very sweet. That made him realize that, no matter how much he liked Laney, it would never have worked between them. She was as sweet as that dessert and Cam knew he turned everything around him a bit bitter.<br>"_Just like Lilian's chocolate,_" he thought. "_But bitter can be good too._"

The restaurant was a bit expensive for Cam's taste but the food was good and they had fun together. It was late already when they left the restaurant and Cam, Lilian and Philip decided it'd be a good idea to go back to their respective towns.  
>"Thanks for the meal, Nina. It was good to see you again," Lilian said, giving her a hug before mounting her horse.<br>"We will continue our conversation the next time," Philip said, leaving a puzzled Lilian and Cam wondering.  
>"Now I understand a bit more what I need to do, so please, let me try to enter the competition again," Cam asked.<br>"Don't be in a rush, Cam," Nina calmed him down. "You just started to understand about technique. The next time you should pay more attention to what the participants are saying. Then, and just then, when you fully understand the importance of the whole group, I will allow you to participate."  
>Cam was sulking a bit but hearing Lilian and Philip talking on the way soothed his soul. At some point of the way Lilian got closer to him.<br>"Hey, Cam," she called. "You must promise me."  
>"What should I promise?" He asked, curious.<br>"That when you win the bouquet contest you will tell me," she said, and as Cam made a puzzled face she looked to the other side, where Philip was. He wasn't paying attention so she continued. "That thing you wanted to tell me on the day we found the cat. We never had the chance to talk properly after that. I know what you want to say, but promise me that you'll tell me when you win the competition."  
>At first Cam thought it was a joke. How could she know what he wanted to tell? But looking at Lilian's face he could tell it wasn't.<br>"Well, you don't give me a choice other than win it then, do you?" He said, trying to cheer her up. And the smile she returned to him could very well replace the moon for its brightness.


	24. Chapter 24

I got a cold, so even though I already have the ideas gathered together to write the last chapter, it is painful to write with a running nose and a headache. So I'm sorry if this takes a little bit longer than I had planned. It will still be done before February ends though.

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>Another monday came and Cam watched as Howard and Laney prepared for the cooking festival as he left the cafe'.<br>"Good luck you two. I will be cheering on Bluebell from the city," he said.  
>"We know dear," Howard said, more calm than his usual self when he'd participate on the cooking contest. "And you have fun in there, you hear me? It's no good if you only concentrate and have no fun."<br>"Here, I baked a snack for the travel," Laney said, handing him a lunch box. "Have fun, but don't forget what you're going there for," she added after giving a look over her shoulder to see if Howard was paying attention. He wasn't.  
>"Don't worry," Cam chuckled.<p>

Only going to the city to watch the bouquet competition was easier on Cam and he could leave every monday morning instead of sunday nights as he used to. He agreed to meet his teacher in front of the building where they held the contest, so everything was fine. That day though Cam had a surprise.  
>"Vaughn?" He asked, not believing his own eyes. But his hat couldn't be mistaken anywhere else.<br>"Hey Cam. I came to visit you," he said.  
>"It is good to see you," Cam said honestly, "but what about Chelsea?"<br>"Ah, Chelsea wants to have the baby at the island. I am not coming back as often because I want to help her with the farm chores. It seems a bit unfair not to help, you know."  
>"I understand," Cam nodded. "And when the baby will be born, do you know?"<br>"Around the new year, that's for sure," Vaughn answered, rubbing his hands because of the cold air. "Let's go in? It is freezing here."

Cam had made his best to watch the contest but by the end of it he didn't feel any closer to his goal of understanding. Vaughn must have noticed that because he invited him to drink something at the pub closer by.  
>"It's on me," he had said. And Cam couldn't refuse it. It'd be good to spend some time with a friend.<br>Cam took the chance to update his actual situation with Lilian and, even though he felt embarrassed, Vaughn took everything seriously and didn't make it worse at any moment. He mentioned his almost friendship with Philip and told him about Ash giving up on Lilian for his sake.  
>"Seems like you are doing just fine," Vaughn said, taking a sip. "I don't understand why you're having such a hard time with the bouquets though."<br>"Nina said it is the technique," he said, shrugging. "I still don't understand though. She also said I should keep my mind on a theme but I don't know how to convey my feelings, the technique and a theme. It is so complicated and frustrating," Cam complained, resting his elbows at the table and lowering his head.  
>"You're giving up too early, if you ask me," Vaughn said after a moment. "Take Chelsea's bouquet for an example. You put a lot of effort into making it, didn't you? One could say so just by looking. I'm sure that if you used it to enter the contest, you'd win."<br>"But I didn't make a theme for it," Cam retorted.  
>"Of course you did!" Vaughn protested. "Didn't you make it for the wedding? Isn't that a good enough of a theme? Your wishes of happiness and love, anyone could see it in that bouquet."<br>"Do you really think so?" Cam asked, insecure.  
>"I don't think, I'm sure of it. You should make another bouquet. Why don't you make it for Lilian? You could try to convey all the feelings you're not able to put in words in it. I'm sure she will understand."<br>Cam didn't reply. Instead he took his cup and drank half of the liquid inside it. Somehow it seemed like Vaughn had saved him once again.  
>"Thanks," he finally said. "I owe you again."<br>"It is okay," Vaughn smiled. "But I want to be invited to the wedding when it happens!" He demanded.  
>"As if it would happen without you," Cam said earnestly.<p>

Wednesday came and with it a chance that Cam couldn't miss. The starry night festival would happen on the thursday and he wanted to invite Lilian. The only problem is that she didn't show up the whole day at all. By the time he was closing his stall he saw a wobbling Lilian coming his way.  
>"<em>She's finally here!<em>" He cheered up. "_But what's with the way she is walking?_" He wondered.  
>Cam decided to walk up to her and managed to get a hold of her right when she was about to collapse. It was snowing and he wondered if she had been working in that kind of weather. It didn't take him long to know the answer, as her clothes were soaked. He didn't know if it was sweat of just the snowflakes that melted on her, but it surely didn't sound good.<p>

"It is a small cold. You did well bringing her here," Ayame said to him. Cam avoided to look at Hiro. Everytime he did he would remember what had happened the first time he had been there.  
>"Do you think she will be alright before tomorrow?" He asked, hopeful.<br>"She needs to rest. Hiro already changed her clothes and wiped her sweat so she should be fine for the time being. Why don't you come back tomorrow to take her back home?" She asked.  
>"You will be keeping her here for the whole day?" He asked, his heart a bit crushed.<br>"Well, at least until she wakes up. And as long as it isn't snowing too, because she's stubborn like that when it comes to work."  
>"Well, I will try to come then." He finally said, leaving the clinic after thanking them. The idea of Lilian being helped by Hiro to change clothes didn't make him very happy but the guy was the doctor assistant after all. He surely knew what he was doing.<p>

"If you didn't tell me, I wouldn't have believed."  
>Cam had left the clinic and headed to Konohana's farm. There he found Philip playing with a dog. The other had noticed him and invited him in and Cam couldn't say no. He didn't know why he had gone there at all but being with Philip kind of calmed his heart a bit.<br>"She's hard working, I don't know why that's hard to believe," Cam said, resting his head on his hands.  
>"She surely wasn't like that when I left her in my parents' care," Philip explained. He was preparing dinner and Cam ended up being invited, so he stayed.<br>"Howard and Laney will be worried," he had complained.  
>"I already gave a call to Bluebell's town hall. Probably that old man already told them you're here, so stop worrying."<br>And so Cam did. Philip had prepared tom yum goong and Cam was eating happily.  
>"Say, tomorrow we have a festival at Bluebell, it is called Starry night festival," Cam started a conversation. "Do you want to come? It will be at the cafe', so you should be able to enjoy it even if I'm there."<br>"I don't mind you being there anymore," Philip confessed. "But you're telling me that so I can bring Lilian, are you not?"  
>"<em>Philip is sharp,<em>" Cam thought. "Well, I was going to invite Lilian but she never came to the flower stall, and when she did she was in that bad shape... I couldn't do anything, could I?"  
>"And still you brought her all the way here," Philip said with a smile. "That's pretty impressive, flower boy. I think I might approve of you dating my sister after all."<br>"W-Who said anything about that?" Cam said, his face reddening by the moment. Philip only laughed.

"Thanks for the help, you two," Howard said.  
>"I always help you, don't know what you're thanking me for," Laney said while cutting some carrots.<br>"I'd feel bad for not helping when I invited more people to come," Cam said, feeling a bit guilty for only mentioning the possibility of Lilian and Philip joining them after lunch time.  
>"Don't feel bad, dear," Howard tried to calm him down. "I am the man of the house after all," he puffed his chest.<br>"Looks more like the mother," Laney teased.  
>Cam was frying some fish when he noticed Howard leaving the cafe' and coming back a few minutes later.<br>"Where did you go?" Cam asked, curious.  
>"Oh, just inviting someone else. We will have to add one more plate to the table now."<p>

The table was set, the wine in the center of the table with the dishes disposed around it. There were a total of six plates and Cam started to wonder who else would eat with them other than Philip and Lilian.  
>"Excuse me," a feminine voice said after knocking.<br>"I'll get the door," Cam said, already curious. That wasn't Lilian's voice after all.  
>It was Eileen.<br>"Hi Cam," she said with a warm smile. "Howard invited me, I hope you don't mind."  
>"Not at all," he said, wide opening the door to let her in. "Come on in, we're getting the last things ready," he said.<br>Eileen and Howard were talking and Laney watched curious.  
>"I didn't even know they were friends," she confessed. "It surely was a surprise."<br>"Don't mention it. Maybe it is because of last time?"  
>Eileen had been invited a couple times for a couple of events at the cafe'. Howard knew she would always spend those holidays by herself. Eileen was distracted like that, to the point of not even knowing there was a festival if someone didn't mention it to her. That's what had happened and she was happy that she had been invited.<br>"That's a first," she had told Howard.  
>"Well, if it depends on me, you'll always be welcome to spend those holidays with us."<br>It didn't take that long for another knock on the door to be heard. This time Laney went to get it. And to Cam's surprise and happiness, there they were standing.  
>"Sorry for the late. Lilian overslept and I had to help her with the animals," Philip explained.<br>"Don't worry about it," Howard said, merrily. "But now, all of us are here, so let's start the party!"

"The food was as good as always, Howard," Philip said. "But I should be leaving first. I do have to go back to Konohana after all."  
>"Yeah, we understand," Howard said, patting his shoulder. "Come visit whenever you want, we're always happy to have you around," he said, blinking to Laney that was watching. She turned her face but if one paid attention, her ears were getting red.<br>"Take care so you won't get sick again, Lil. Don't bring troubles to the ones around you," he scolded. "You're lucky that every time you're in trouble there's someone around you," he added, patting her head. "I will be leaving her in your care once again," he said, looking straight to Cam.  
>"Don't worry, I will take good care of her."<br>Philip nodded and headed outside. Lilian looked to Cam confused and he smiled.  
>"Should I bring you home?"<br>"I'd be happy with that," she confessed.

They walked down the road that lead to her farm hearing nothing but the _crunch_ from the snow under their feet. Lilian had been clinging to Cam's arm and he wondered if she was really feeling better. By the time they were by her door he couldn't help it.  
>"Well, you don't have a fever, that's good," he said after taking his beret and leaning his forehead on hers. It was the normal temperature, or so it seemed, so he gave a rest to his worries. "Don't work with such light clothes when it is snowing. It is dangerous." He scolded her. "I'd die with worry if something bad happened to you."<br>Lilian lowered her face and Cam wondered if he had been too harsh.  
>"I'm sorry. And thanks. I was just trying my best, you know. But I think I am more fit for planting and harvesting after all," she mumbled.<br>"Hey," Cam hugged her. "We're all doing our best, aren't we? You with the animals and me with the flowers," he said, lifting her chin. "Let's do our best together, okay?"  
>Lilian smiled and nodded, hugging him back. And before parting they kissed.<br>"Good night Lilian," he said, watching her open the door and close it behind her.


	25. Chapter 25

Just to be safe, I do not own ANY of the characters in this.  
>Also, any similarities with real life facts are mere coincidence.<p>

* * *

><p>Another monday came and this time, Cam was already at the city. This time he decided he would participate in the contest <em>and<em> win. He had even thought about the theme. In the end he decided to follow Vaughn's advice. _"The one that's special to me"_. He had been sure to ask Philip to give him some of the snowdrops he had planted and the other gave him enough to make a whole bouquet of them. Lilian had been giving lavenders all through the season, so he had plenty too. The last flower, the one that gave the bouquet all the special meaning, was a blue rose he had been nourishing himself all through the season. Lloyd gave him the seed and told him that it was a very rare breed that had a hard time blooming in almost all the towns he had visited.  
>"Maybe you will have better luck than me to get it to bloom," Lloyd had told him after handing him the package.<br>For a couple days Cam had doubts himself if the rose would bloom but he kept caring for it until the first leaves started to sprout. And when the first button sprout he couldn't hide his happiness. But it was only after his conversation with Vaughn that he had decided to use it.  
><em>"This time I have to win"<em>, he had decided. _"Not only for me, but for everyone that helped me so far."_  
>Nina watched him as he prepared the bouquet. She liked it that the blue rose had been put right in the middle of the snowdrops but she didn't like how the blue was all by itself in the middle of all the white. It was only when Cam started to add the lavenders here and there that the bouquet started to get the shape it was supposed to.<br>"Lavender as the accent flower?" She asked him.  
>"You will understand in the right time, Nina," he had told her with a smile.<p>

Cam was standing in front of all the people that had came to watch. He was anxious, so he couldn't focus in one spot at all, though he knew Nina was out there, watching him. He heard as each of the participants explained their theme to the public and started to panic. Some of them had some very detailed explanations about their themes while he was relying on his flowers and their meanings. When his turn came he cleared his throat before he started to explain.  
>"This bouquet's theme is <em>"the one that's special to me"<em> and the flowers I used to make it are the feelings she conveyed to me," he said, proceeding to showing the flowers. "The snowdrops are a symbol of hope, the hope she has always put in me without ever doubting, always waiting. The lavenders mean the love and devotion she has always showed me without ever asking me to return them to her. And the last, but most important of them all, is this blue rose. Blue roses were always seen as impossible to exist, but I managed to raise this one. This only rose represents the mystery of her own existence, her extraordinary beauty in my eyes and a dream. A dream that has yet to become true. All of this bouquet represents her."  
>It was so silent by the time he finished his explanation that he could hear the rustling of the judges papers, the single girls' sighs and giggles and some couples hugging and kissing. It made him feel good to know he had caused this kind of reaction. Then he waited patiently as the other contestants explained their themes, but this time he didn't feel bad at all. For the first time he was confident that no matter how good the other themes were, none could beat his love for Lilian.<p>

He knocked on her door three times and waited. It was late in the night and he was exhausted but he couldn't help but want to see her. And surely enough, Lilian opened the door. She had a bed hair and was still rubbing her eyes and yawning, but seeing Cam put a smile on her face.  
>"Good night Cam," she greeted him. "What brings you here so late?"<br>"I am sorry that it took me so long to say this, Lil," he said, showing her the bouquet he had been hiding behind his back. "I love you."  
>Lilian's smile grew bigger, if that could even happen. She took the bouquet from his hands and hugged it against her chest, Cam didn't notice at first but tears were rolling down her face.<br>"It took you long enough," she finally said, wiping the tears and jumping on Cam's neck to hug him.  
>And when they parted Cam expected her to kiss him, but the kiss didn't come. Instead, she took his hand.<br>"Come, you must be tired. Let's sleep."  
>Her words struck him like a lightning and he covered his mouth that was wide open in awe. Still, he didn't fight against it when she pulled him inside the house and closed the door behind him. He took off his beret and his waistcoat before looking to Lilian. She was already looking at him so their eyes meet for a second before she averted her eyes from his gaze. <em>"Maybe she's regretting it?"<em> he thought. _"I won't give her the chance to change her mind."_  
>Marching straight her way he took her by surprise and started to kiss her. One moment later Lilian's hands were on his chest, unbuttoning the last buttons that kept his shirt on him before removing it. Cam started to lead them to the bed, the kiss turning more and more passionate, their hands wandering over each other bodies. when they got to the bed he turned around and break out of the kiss, panting. Lilian was trembling, her face all red, a tear still rolling down her face. Cam wiped it out this time.<br>"We don't have to go further than this if you don't want to," he said.  
>She seemed relieved and it disappointed him a bit. He took it as if it was time for him to go back to the cafe' and he surely enough had given a step away from the bed, towards the door, before Lilian grabbed his arm. He turned to see her face lowered.<br>"We don't need to go further but," she raised her head, looking straight into his eyes, deep into his soul, "it doesn't mean you have to go."  
>Philip was stuck for a second when she turned to her nightstand and took a blue feather from it.<br>"Seems like blue is our color after all," she smiled. "Will you accept it?"

When Cam woke up he didn't recognize where he was for a minute. The aroma of fresh bread invaded his nostrils and he turned around, just to see that the one that slept by his side wasn't there at all.  
><em>"It wasn't a dream"<em> he thought to himself, not noticing the smile in his face. He got up and put his shirt back on, as well as his shoes, his beret and his waistcoat. They didn't do _it_ in the end but he had teased her mercilessly to the point that they both barely slept.  
>"It is time to wake up, Cam," her sweet voice brought him back from his memories. "It is past 8 already, Howard must be worried."<br>"You're right. And you should come too," he added. "He would kill us if we don't tell him we're going to get married first. You know how he is with the gossip thing," he scratched the back of his head.  
>"I thought so," she said, giving him his shirt. "Dress up then let's eat breakfast. We will head to the cafe' when we're done here."<br>Cam got dressed as fast as he could and ate as little as he could. It was not that Lilian's food was bad but he wanted to rush to the cafe' and tell Howard and Laney the good news. He was sure that both of them would bless him.

"Oh my! You're getting married, Cam?!"  
>Howard surely seemed excited about the news. Laney seemed a bit dispirited but she was congratulating them nonetheless.<br>"So, out with it, then! When will the wedding be?" Howard asked, anxious.  
>"We were talking about having it on the 5th of spring," Cam started to say.<br>"The sooner the better," Lilian added.  
>"Oh! I've got to figure out what I'm going to wear to this joyous occasion!" Howard beamed.<br>"Dad! It is their wedding! And it won't happen so soon anyway!" Laney scolded.  
>"Nonsense, my dear! You' can never start planning these things too early! Besides, I love Cam like he was my own son! It's only natural that I'm excited for my son's wedding! Oh, we should contact Nina too! She will want to come!"<br>"I can tell her when I go visit her the next monday," Cam said.  
>"Are you planning to go to the city on the day before your marriage? Look, Lilian! Look! This is the man you're going to marry! Are you sure you're doing the right thing?" Howard teased.<br>Lilian and Cam exchanged a glance and smiled.  
>"I've never been so sure in all my life."<p>

That same day Cam and Lilian went all the way to Konohana to tell Philip.  
>"I can't believe you did it without telling me anything, Lil. What if I am against it? And you didn't even talk to our parents," he scolded her.<br>"It is not like I was planning to invite them anyway," she said bluntly, to what both Cam and Philip were surprised. "What? If I did invite them, you'd never show up in there. And I want _you_ to be the best man."  
>Cam watched as Philip tried to hide a smile and failed miserably. He didn't seem as angry with the idea as he had shown when they first said it.<br>"Okay, okay. I accept it. It is not like I'd say no to you anyway, right? And you, Cam!" He said, making Cam straighten his back. "You better take good care of my little sis. Or else..."  
>"Yeah, yeah, I get the picture," Cam shrugged it away as Lilian giggled.<p>

On the last day of winter all the townsfolk gathered to celebrate the New Year. Philip wasn't there since he was celebrating with Konohana. "Reina insisted," he had said. And so they took the chance to tell everyone about the wedding. There were a lot of congratulations coming from everyone but Ash was the one who seemed the happiest about it.  
>"So, it seems things went well for you," he said to Cam while Lilian was talking with someone else.<br>"You could say so. The bouquet did get the first prize after all."  
>"I thought you would never make it," Ash said bluntly. Cam glared at him and he gave him an apologetic look. "It is the truth, though. You never put your energy into anything, really. Maybe Lilian is a good change to your life. At least you need that energy more than I do."<p>

"I'm exhausted," Lilian said, sitting on her bed. "Never thought that getting married would be so much work."  
>The wedding had been held at the mountain summit and the only person from Konohana that had come was Philip. The two towns still had some grudge after all and it seemed a lot more of work would have to be done in order to fix it. Lilian seemed a bit sad because of it and Cam had noticed it.<br>"Don't be like that," he said, sitting by her side and kissing her neck. "Philip was there and that's what matters, right? We're married now," he started, turning her head to face him, "it isn't like you need anyone else."  
>"You're getting too conceited," she mumbled as her hands started to work on taking off his clothes.<br>"It is your own fault for making me want you so much," he said, helping her get off of the wedding dress. "I won't hold myself now that we're married," he teased.  
>"I didn't think you would."<p>

* * *

><p>It is over! I know I usually write on the start but this is the last chapter after all so I thought it'd be better to put all those on the end. This is the last chapter. I'm sorry if I disappointed you in any way (like the chapter not being well written or if things seem rushed) but I was having a really hard time to keep this on the T rate. I really felt like adding some smut to it in this end. If you guys played the game and want to read about the tunnel being built you may want to read my story about Philip. I never wrote any chapter for it anymore mostly because I wanted to focus on finishing this one, but now that it is over I can continue the other. There will be more from Lilian and Cam in there too but they won't be the main focus. Thanks all for the support so far and I hope to see you guys in the future.<p> 


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